Domino
by darthvair65
Summary: This is the story of a boy and a girl, who by all rights would never have met if the boy hadn't had a spontaneous desire to get a piercing at stupid o'clock on a Saturday morning. This is a story about falling in love and the mistakes that we make during the fall – about the boy you drenched in beer the girl you never saw coming. Axel/f!Roxas
1. Chapter 1

**Title: **Domino

**Pairing: **Axel/f!Roxas

**Warnings: **genderswap, piercings and blood, language, epic snark, Axel being a dick, sex, slightly kinky sex

**Rating: **R/NC-17

**Beta**: alovelysilence

**A/N: **written with the lovely Pia/rotersternxx/letsfuckitupboys. Started out as a roleplay, and as we approached 100,000 words we figured why the hell not post it.

**Disclaimer: **We don't own Kingdom Hearts (or else KH3 would have been out by now), but we do get a kick out of writing for the fandom.

**Summary: **This is the story of a boy and a girl, who by all rights would never have met if the boy hadn't had a spontaneous desire to get a piercing at stupid o'clock on a Saturday morning. This is a story about falling in love and the mistakes that we make during the fall – about the boy you drenched in beer and the girl you never saw coming.

**Chapter Summary: **The victim: Axel. The culprit: Roxas in the parlor with the piercing needles.

1

Axel pulled the headphones out of his ears as he left the escalators on the fourth floor, surveying thoroughly from left to right, scanning for a shop called "Paine's Piercings," which Demyx had recommended to him. It was supposed to be a clean shop with trustworthy piercers and reasonable prices. Seeing it almost immediately – and pleased with himself that he'd found it, Axel allowed himself a grin as he walked towards it. Eyeing the flashy green neon sign appreciatively, he thought that yeah, this store was neat. The interior was generously large as he entered, various glass displays with different piercing jewelry catching his eyes easily. That there was no one else in the store didn't bother him - not many customers came in at 8:30 Saturday morning with the itch to get a piercing (least of all when they've never even had a single one) and surely a clerk would be around here somewhere, keen on decorating his skin with a bit of pretty metal. Last-minute ideas were the most fun there were to be had, and Axel, ever impulsive, wouldn't deny himself a piercing or perhaps two.

A security video in the back alerted the only employee to Axel's presence soon after he entered the shop. Roxas watched the video for a moment while she sipped her freshly brewed coffee; what sort of crazy ass came in at 8:30 in the fucking morning? Half the time she wondered why Paine insisted on opening so damn early when the boss never came in until at least one in the afternoon - the honors of opening the shop always went to Roxas or Hayner. Still, at least the newcomer looked interesting; he was looking at all the displays curiously, like he wasn't sure what exactly he wanted, but Roxas didn't think she'd mind if he took forever deciding – judging by the black and white security tape he looked pretty hot.

Finally Roxas decided to go out and talk with him, see what the early bird out for metal wanted; she checked in the mirror to make sure she looked at least mostly awake before heading out. Eight of eleven piercings glinted back at her in the mirror, the majority of them in her ears aside from the bar in her eyebrow and the ring in her lip. Her short blonde hair wasn't even really styled yet, and hung across her forehead; eventually she'd put gel in it or something, but 8:30 in the morning was way too early for that. She'd always been told she looked like a boy, and never really felt like going out of her way to disprove that idea with really girly clothes or anything - she always felt like it made her small chest and narrow hips look a bit ridiculous. So Roxas went out into the main area to meet her prospective customer in slightly baggy jeans and her favorite shirt (from her first Sugarcult concert ages ago) and sat down behind the desk. "Good morning, early bird," she said, putting her coffee cup down on the counter. "What can I help you with?"

Axel's eyes were glued to a certain red piercing, shaped like a swirling flame. It was sorta extraordinary between all the normal star-, circle- or diamond-shaped ones; just the right sort of special - or flaming - for him. When there was a girl's voice behind him, he replied without turning around. "Dunno yet what I wanna get but I was thinking, perhaps my eyebrow," he said, still eyeing the flame-shaped piercing. He turned towards the desk, to where the voice seemed to come from. "But whatever it is, I don't want some boring..."

He trailed off when he saw who was sitting there. /Who/ was sitting there? He couldn't really tell and kept staring discreetly for a moment. It was certainly a human being (a tiny one at that) but when he tried to attribute the voice he'd just heard to this boy, he frowned. It didn't fit /at all/. Either someone was trying to mess with him by letting a kid watch the shop, or God really hated the person at that desk, putting them into an unfortunate body like that, whatever gender it was. Axel did feel kind of stupid for staring - he wasn't a superficial jackass, after all - but he wouldn't be Axel if he wasn't known for his asshole charm.

"...helix. Don't want some boring helix," he finished at last. Blue eyes only watched him calmly, and before Axel realised he'd opened his mouth, he was already speaking. "Say, I know kids making fun of you because your voice didn't break yet sure /sucks/, but skipping school to hang at a piercing studio's not really bright, is it?"

"Wow, you're a charmer," Roxas snorted. "That's a pretty dickish thing to say to the person who'll be holding the piercing gun, you know." Roxas put her coffee aside, raising her pierced eyebrow at the asshole in her shop now. "And I'm twenty-six, I haven't needed to skip school for four years, man."

"Well I can't help my natural charm, I guess." Axel had his eyebrows raised at the kid's back, still a little flabbergasted on the inside that he was supposed to be 26, an entire year older than him. For a moment, Axel imagined the kid at 18, fucking some faceless girl. He almost winced at the imagination; the girl must've felt like a pedophile for all he knew. Really, a 26-year-old body and a face looking like, what, mostly 18? Damn, that guy must've got it hard. But from what Axel could tell, he made up for it with his attitude. An attitude that made Axel grin.

Roxas got up out of her chair and stalked over to the case he was examining, opening it up. "So, Mr. No Boring Helix, these here are some of our more interesting ones for eyebrows, not that you really have much in the way of those," she said flippantly. "Any in particular you like?"

"As I'd like to keep my pretty face intact, I'll tone down on the charm a bit," he continued casually, following the guy to the case. "Yeah, actually there was one I thought was pretty hot." Kneeling before the display, he pointed to the middle. "This spiky flame-thing is legit."

Roxas nodded and plucked the preferred piercing from the box, examining it briefly. At least the guy had the good sense to back off when his face was in danger of unnecessary bruising. With a scrutinizing glance he decided that the piercing would suit him well. "Alright," Roxas said. "If you're sure about this one, we can get started. Sit down right over here," she said, indicating to a padded chair off to the side. When the redhead sat down, Roxas brought her equipment over. She cleaned the skin around his eyebrow and drew on a target point for the piercing, showing it to him in a small mirror. With his nod, Roxas set her tools on the table beside them. Then she realized something. "Are you a piercing virgin?"

"I'm sure as hell." Axel leaned back in the chair, surprised at how comfortable it was. He eyed the needles critically and with some distaste, not that he'd ever admit that. Piercing might be painful, but it was nothing against tattooing. Tattoos, now, were the real bitches. /That/ shit hurt. Still, he wasn't gonna admit that the piercing gun made him a little fidgety. First times and all that – and one of those needles looked awfully big.

"Hymen's all intact, buddy. All yours." Probably the first cherry that guy ever got to pop, Axel thought, being the jackass he was. He'd better keep that to himself, too. Smirking, he crossed his arms behind his head. "I'm not some nervous virgin concerning needles and shit, though, so I do have standards. Hope you'll fulfill 'em."

Roxas smirked at that. "I'll do my best. Glad you're not some nervous virgin though, those are the worst. Don't need to be cleaning up vomit this early in the morning, thanks."

"Can't possibly be worse than my first tattoo," Axel said. It was easy to imagine some nervous virgins puking but fortunately he was out of that league, so blondie had nothing to worry about. There was something in his stomach tightening – a little nervousness, but just a tiny bit – and whenever Axel got nervous, his mouth did all the work for him so he talked right up to the countdown. "That was pain, man. I mean I'm sure piercing can hurt like a bitch too, especially that weird shit some guys pull off when they've got their dicks pierced."

Roxas pinched the skin of Axel's eyebrow with a clamp to line up the markers she'd drawn, all while he was still chattering. She picked up the biggest needle and lined it up against the lower marker, ignoring his widened eyes and silent curse at the size. "On the count of three. One, two!" and on two she pushed the needle right through his skin, piercing the redhead's eyebrow quickly and efficiently.

The building tension was broken for Axel carelessly with a flash of surprise as the piercing spike of pain as the needle was being shoved through his flesh hit him full force. Axel tried his damnedest not to flinch but didn't quite succeed.

"Ow, fuck, you fucking dick, warn a man, would ya?" he muttered, cursing under his breath, ever the gentleman.

Roxas ignored him and left the needle in his eyebrow, watching carefully for blood. Some people didn't bleed at all when they got their eyebrow done, while others bled like they'd been stabbed. Sure enough, not two seconds later blood bloomed from behind the needle and Roxas gently pressed a cloth around the fresh wound to stop the bleeding. "Hold that for me, alright?"

When the initial shock wore off and he pressed the cloth to his eyebrow as instructed, there was an interesting, almost pleasant feeling flitting through his veins, something quick and hot, and uncontrollable. He lived for that feeling. With the cloth pressed to his eyebrow, Axel couldn't help his grin, hyped up on adrenaline. He grinned goofily at the blond, his temper changing with the blink of an eye. His brow hurt like a motherfucker but he couldn't care less; he felt like he'd just won the jackpot. Fuck, that was way more intense than any tattooing he'd done. "Is it always like this?"

Roxas snickered. "The rush? Hell yeah. And don't call me a dick," Roxas warned, flicking Axel's temple on the pierced side with her fingers. "Better to surprise you and get it over with. I know what you're feeling though, I have eleven piercings and three tattoos – just don't use that adrenaline and go do something stupid." Roxas turned back to her very chatty customer and pulled the cloth away for a moment. "Ah fuck, you're bleeding like a stuck pig. Hang on." Roxas got a fresh gauze pad and held it to the redhead's brow, trying to clot the wound. Once it had stopped bleeding, Roxas exchanged the needle for the jewelry he'd picked out, causing him to cringe. "That'll heal up soon though, I'd just need you to come back so I can make sure it's healing well. You ok with that?"

"My circulation is pretty damn awesome, just like my general fine self." Axel grinned up at blondie from the chair, squeezing the eye of the unconcerned side closed in an attempt to calm the throbbing waves of pain through his brow. "Sure, sure, I'm gonna come back. Hell, I _am_ gonna come back. You popped my cherry, you think I'm gonna scram that quickly? Firsts are something special," Axel rambled, feeling the need to get air off his lungs. He inhaled, allowed himself to close his eyes. The tingling, light feeling in his chest just didn't want to stop. "For someone who threatened to butcher me, you sure know how to make another guy feel good. Almost better than sex, damn," he muttered.

"Almost," Roxas allowed, weighing the pros and cons of that comparison, "but not quite better than sex," she snickered, rising from her seat and stripping off her sterile gloves. "What, have I gotten you hooked on the adrenaline rush?" she asked. He was actually pretty cute, aside from his dickishness and attitude, and his talkative nature amused Roxas quite a bit. She imagined that he could talk forever and a day and never get tired of hearing his own voice - not even in a conceited way, just to fill the silence and amuse others. Roxas figured she could probably listen to him read the phone book and be satisfied listening to him speak. "Alright, well as long as you take care of that piercing and come back for me to check on it, you'll be just fine." She told the redhead the price for the piercing and her compliance, and beckoned him over to the cash register to pay up.

"Told ya, I'll definitely be back. You've had the honor of being my first, so I've memorized the piercing gun in your hand, and only in yours," Axel said. Then he waggled his eyebrows suggestively, vaguely thinking a second or two about what he was going to say next, but he hoped blondie was up for this kind of fun anyway; Axel liked his fun and, dick or no dick, blondie was amusing so far. "So only you can penetrate me, bud."

He was fully aware of the gayness he exuded but he didn't dwell on it too much. Leave it to other people to worry about tact or appropriateness; Axel wasn't the one for it.

"So anyway, what do I owe you for this fantastic foreplay?"

"Thirty dollars," Roxas said, snickering to herself and choosing to ignore the suggestiveness in his tone. He was probably just fucking around, and Roxas wasn't _that_ impressed with him yet. Let him come back, she thought, and see if he really is hooked.

"I'm honored," she snickered, taking the cash he offered her for the piercing. "Though I generally don't agree to foreplay unless I know the person's name, so what's yours?"

Axel raised an eyebrow at the snickering; seemed like his openness had been interpreted the wrong way. The guy was fun and amusing, but that was it. As far as Axel was concerned, the problem lay in an obvious shortage of breasts and a vagina. But he'd started it, so he'd go along with it, even if it was only being friendly. The guy had just asked his name and Axel figured there was nothing bad about it. Also, he couldn't go around throwing suggestive remarks at people and expect no one to be interested. He'd brought it on, so he had to deal with the consequences.

"Well my policy isn't as strict as yours, but a first-name basis is good so I can moan your name the next time." He grinned. This was getting more and more fun; mostly, people would tell him to fuck off or to shut up. It wasn't often that anyone went along with his stupidity (except Demyx perhaps). "You'd be my first, by the way." He didn't add _my first boy. _"Well, whatever. It's Axel, as in the axe with an L. What's yours?"

"Roxas," she offered, taking a sip of her now lukewarm coffee and making a face at it. "Though if you start moaning my name the next time I have the piercing gun at your face I might think you have a problem. Try to keep your masochism to yourself, right Axel?" Roxas quipped. She didn't quite know what to make of 'you'd be my first,' other than his first piercer or whatever. "You're all set then," she said, getting a card with care instructions for the piercing out and handing it to him. "Try not to bleed out before you get home."

"Thanks," he said, taking the card and instructions from her. He flipped the instructions open to page through them briefly and then looked back to Roxas. "All right then, see you soon." He turned around and walked towards the entrance with a bit of a swagger in his step.

Roxas rolled her eyes and decided make herself a fresh pot of coffee since her first one was already cold. She definitely felt like she'd need it today, her head was pounding with the amount of snark that idiot was throwing.

Then Axel poked his head around the door and shouted, "Boring holes into people as profession doesn't exactly make you innocent either, _sadist_!" in what was probably the most good-natured way Roxas had ever been called that word.

She still chucked a stress ball from the counter at his head, which missed him as he proudly strutted away. _Jackass._


	2. Chapter 2

**Title: **Domino

**Pairing: **Axel/f!Roxas

**Warnings: **genderswap, piercings and blood, language, epic snark, Axel being a dick, sex, slightly kinky sex

**Rating: **R/NC-17

**Beta**: alovelysilence

**A/N: **written with the lovely Pia/rotersternxx/letsfuckitupboys. Started out as a roleplay, and as we approached 100,000 words we figured why the hell not post it.

**Disclaimer: **We don't own Kingdom Hearts (or else KH3 would have been out by now), but we do get a kick out of writing for the fandom.

**Summary: **This is the story of a boy and a girl, who by all rights would never have met if the boy hadn't had a spontaneous desire to get a piercing at stupid o'clock on a Saturday morning. This is a story about falling in love and the mistakes that we make during the fall – about the boy you drenched in beer and the girl you never saw coming.

**Chapter Summary: **Mistaken identities and miscommunication are a recipe for disaster. But more on that later.

2

It was about a week later when Axel did show up at Roxas' shop again, thankfully not nearly as early so Roxas could effectively wake up with several doses of caffeine. She was reading this time when he came in, a pair of black-trimmed glasses perched on her nose as she poured over her mystery novel – one of the several Agatha Christie novels she kept in her small library. _Evil Under the Sun _was one of her favorites. When she looked up Roxas almost didn't remember him, since she saw multitudes of people and body parts all day nearly every day, but his cocky grin and bright green eyes helped her remember. "Axel, right? Checking in on the helix?"

"Hey," Axel greeted the other boy with a grin. "The name's right, the rest isn't. Mr. Boring Helix, remember?" He brought his finger up to tap it against his unconcerned brow, indicating that he got his eyebrow pierced, not his ear.

The other boy looked a little more awake than last time, with some black glasses on, which made him look kinda nerdy. Still, Axel couldn't help a small smile at the sight; nerdy or not, the boy was _pretty_ - in a feminine way. Axel remembered their almost-flirting last week and resolved to go a little slower this time. The boy was nice and he didn't want to hurt him by unnecessarily getting his hopes up.

"My mistake, I'll remember that later," Roxas said, putting her book in her lap. She beckoned him closer, and Axel leaned a bit over the counter so she could look at the eyebrow. It looked healthy and clean, like he'd been taking care of it well; the swelling was down, and the piercing looked really good on him. "It looks pretty good, you shouldn't have any issues with it. It suits you pretty well," she said, satisfied with her work.

"'Course it looks good, you think I would've gotten it otherwise?" He raised an eyebrow and grinned lopsidedly. "So I'm good? That's great. There was some strange stuff coming out the second or third day... kinda yellow-ish. At first I freaked, but mighty Google told me it's normal?" Now that he thought of it... it might've been written on the instructions Roxas had given him, too. He'd glanced over them once or twice, but ultimately he'd thrown them into the trash. Roxas probably didn't need to know that.

Roxas raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, it's perfectly normal. Just keep it clean and keep your hands away from it. And there you go, with the piercing you look about five points cooler than before. Any plans for the next one?"

Axel thought he might've just detected two compliments; covering up his surprise, he feigned annoyance. "Hey hey, I was looking just fine before and cool enough, in fact. 'S not a smart move implying your customer looks uncool, man. But since I'm such a generous individual, I'll just let your slip-up slide." Leaning forward, he supported his weight with his arms on the counter. "Yeah, actually I've been thinking about getting another one. Or perhaps two."

Roxas had to fight back a laugh. Axel was quickly earning the nickname 'macho man' in her head. His asshole charm was almost - almost - endearing. "Alright then, what are you thinking of getting? Something on your ear? Nose? Tongue?"

"Weeeell, we've been over the ear part... tongue sounds nice, but's a bit much for the start. Nose looks kinda gay, I think. That's, like, for teenagers and virgins." Axel shrugged his shoulders. "I want one but I'm not sure yet. Last week was different... I wanted to get one, so I got one. Eyebrow piercing just seemed natural... looks good enough on my awesome eyebrows." He grinned a little haughtily; his eyebrows were his pride. "Why, what'd you think I should get?"

Roxas looked at him critically. "If you really think helixes are boring you could get a more unconventional part of your ear done, like the tragus or inner conch. Not many people get those. Or I could do your lip, since you're adamant about the nose making you gay and I don't know if I'd want to do dermal implants. Sparkling beauty marks wouldn't suit you, I don't think."

"Mmmmh, I dunno," Axel muttered. "I mean helixes aren't that boring..." Suddenly, he remembered something. "Hey, don't you have some sparkling jewelry on your ear? With your hair like that I can't really see it."

Roxas pulled her hair aside so Axel could see; she had an industrial piercing on the left and two orbitals, one per ear, then two sets of earrings on her lobes. "Any of them interest you?"

Axel laughed at the jewelry store the kid had hanging on that one ear _alone_. "You've got a shitload of stuff in there, I like it." Grinning, he reached up to trace the cartilage of his right ear with two fingers, tugging at it. "Hhhmm, ear it is then. I kinda dig your industrial... Would that look something great on me?" Always out fishing for compliments? Yep, name's Axel.

"Sure," Roxas nodded, envisioning the piercing in his ear. "Pick the right bar and it'll look even better." She tapped the glass in front of her where the industrial jewelry was set up. "Don't go with the red metal, it's tacky and you've already got way too much red going on."

"Oi, watch out," Axel said, playfully glaring at her. "You can never wear enough red. It's the color of love and passion and all that bull. Guess I'm no girl but don't girls like that stuff?" He shrugged, then looked at the jewelry laid out before him. "So no red, huh..."

"It was just my opinion as your piercer," Roxas shrugged. "If you really want red, do it, but the metal's not as high quality in the red and you might come up allergic. And most certainly you can wear too much red, no one wants to walk around looking like a giant carrot or tomato," she shot back just as playfully.

"Clearly you need to revise your set of tastes, man. You'll never be responsible if you bash the color red like that. At least leave pink alone or the girls'll be at your heels like little Satans," omniscient Axel, who of course knows it better, advised. Inwardly he thought to himself, 'if you even care about girls running after you.'

"I wasn't bashing the color red, man. It's a great color, very dynamic, and it does well on a lot of people. Pink, however, not so much. I really don't need girls running at my feet," Roxas shrugged.

Axel tried hard not to let out something that'd have Roxas running after him with a butcher knife or, at the very least, that'd let him deform Axel with a not so accidental slip of his piercing needle. "All riiiight then, no girls." There was a brief pause. Then Axel just couldn't help himself. "So rather boys, huh?"

Roxas gave Axel a sharp look and a raised, pierced eyebrow. What the fuck was this guy's deal? "Uh, yeah. I like guys. Nothing against girls, but . . . is there a problem?"

Axel didn't really know how to react appropriately; given this guy's open admitting of liking boys, he thought back to their almost-flirting and swallowed a bit. Roxas was kinda saying straight into his face "I'm a boy and I dig you." This was what he got for teasing people without thinking. Axel didn't like to admit it to himself but he was the one practically inviting Roxas into this. Well... As long as Roxas made no /real/ move he'd be fine, though.

"No issue there, Roxas," he tried to say it as light-heartedly as possible and threw a half-assed grin into the mix. "I'm just more into girls myself, so..."

Roxas nodded slowly, brows furrowed. No really, what the fuck was this all about? "Alright," Roxas said, clearing her throat, "now that we've both put our preferred sexuality out of the table I feel so much better." She rolled her eyes. "Did you want another piercing today, Axel?" she prompted.

"Uuuhmm, yeah," he muttered, faltering a little. He recovered quickly, however, and winked, faking excitement. Tact and appropriateness wasn't his forte, but never let it be said he wasn't smooth. "Yeeeeeaaah right the piercing! Industrial, wasn't it?" Looking back down to the display case, he surveyed the piercings, trying to find one to his liking.

Roxas shook her head, chuckling to herself. She didn't really get what that was all about, Axel pointing out his preference towards girls. Maybe he figured by her appearance she was a lesbian and wanted to pull it out of her by asking indirectly? Asshole charm, once again. "Maybe /you'd/ like the pink one," she teased, the corners of her mouth turning up. "I can get you a Hello Kitty charm to go with it, you'll have the girls fawning all over you."

He almost said 'or gay boys' under his breath, only barely refrained from doing so. His waggled his eyebrows at Roxas. "Or you," he said, teasingly. "Nah, gotta disappoint you; Hello Kitty ain't my style. I'm more into"-damn, he'd almost said 'flaming'-"red or colour-neutral style. Think a black one'd be good?"

"Aww, that's too bad," Roxas mock-whined. "I've always wanted someone to get the Hello Kitty piercing. Ah well. Pick your poison then, and I'll get the equipment ready."

"Hmmm, I think I'll just take the plain black one there," he said, pointing towards a plain black bar with pointed ends. "Too much colour fucks up the whole picture anyway. On my right ear, please."

Roxas nodded, taking the piercing out of the case; Axel went and sat down in the chair while she brought the equipment over, setting out her needles, jewelry and a cloth since she remembered he bled like a stuck pig. She cleaned his ear and marked out the spots for the piercing. Needle at the ready, she looked over at Axel. "When you're ready, man."

As soon as Axel sat down on the chair, a nervous feeling of anticipation began thrumming through his veins, swirling like sickness in his belly. "Perhaps this time you're gonna count properly." He chuckled a little, but kept eyeing the dreaded, massive needle cautiously. There was something exciting and scary in the act of waiting for this certain kind of pain that almost made him wobble back and forth on the chair like a hyperactive 4th grader. Managing to stay calm, he shot Roxas a nervous grin he couldn't keep down. Despite the anxiety, he was looking forward to the rush of excitement this would hopefully bring him. "Be gentle. Second time's almost as bad as the first."

Roxas shared his grin. "But this time you know what to expect. And don't worry, I'll take good care of you." This Axel, the one that sat in the chair waiting for her to pierce him, was adorable. She liked this one, thought he was very endearing. She'd get used to his other side eventually, but he was just /cute/. "You ready? I promise I'll go on three this time."

"If you don't..." Axel left the threat empty. It was safer being quiet for the moment when all coming out of his mouth would've been other teasing stuff somehow related to the word "moaning." Inwardly, he cursed himself for a moment. He'd gotten himself into this mess and really didn't need to make this worse. He took a deep breath and then, eyes glued to Roxas', and nodded. "On three, then."

Roxas felt her stomach lurch when Axel met her eyes; she swallowed thickly and started the countdown anyway, dutifully piercing Axel's ear on three. It was double the pain lancing through his ear this time to get the industrial fitted, and she could see it in Axel's wince before he started swearing. Roxas remembered nearly crying when she had hers done at seventeen, though it was mostly because her ear had bled profusely afterwards. Handing Axel paper towels to stem the blood flow, Roxas looked at the new piercing critically. "Looks good, I have to say."

"Oooow ow ow ow ow, fuck it's gotta look good," Axel said under his breath, grimacing at the pain spiking uncontrollably through the upper shell of his ear. Fuck, piercing wasn't such a pussy-business as he'd originally assumed. This was certainly no piece of candy to handle; the intensity of the pain was double and the piercing itself felt like needles oh so slowly boring a deep hole through his skin. He took a deep breath. His fingertips drummed against the armrest as Axel waited for the pain to subside a little. He distinctly felt something wet running down his hair, dripping onto his neck. A look into the mirror told him he was bleeding like he was being slaughtered; it set something free inside him, and soon he was feeling giddy, baring his teeth in a wide grin at himself in the mirror. "Damn, this makes me feel kinda badass," he admitted with a silly grin. He was beginning to think the excitement was transforming him into an idiot rather than a badass. His grin certainly looked the part.

"Jeeeeze, you really do bleed like a stuck pig," Roxas mused, mopping up the blood that trailed down his neck. A couple of paper towels and a cloth towel later, the blood flow seemed to have slowed enough that Axel could walk out without collapsing in a pool of it. His wide, silly grin was quite adorable, Roxas decided, and it transformed his face into something a lot more handsome and attractive than when he was trying to be cocky and badass. It was probably the rush of endorphins and or something like that, but Roxas found it very endearing. "Yeah, it looks kind of like a war wound," she snickered, wiping the remnants of blood from his skin with a warm, wet washcloth.

"Badass," Axel repeated, allowing Roxas to wash the blood off of his skin. He thought he ought to feel distinctly uncomfortable, having the other boy touch him like that, but he decided he shouldn't be this self-centered after all. If he was gonna go on thinking the boy wanted to eat him up like that, his mouth'd slip and he really didn't need that.

Despite his cautiousness, however, he couldn't help but notice that Roxas handled him with surprising care and that his touch was unusually soft. Maybe it was his imagination but his skin might've just tickled a bit.

"Makes me look all manly and debauched, I bet," he added, trying to shoo the silly thoughts away.

"No, more like you got in a fight and the other guy tried to bite your ear off," Roxas responded, chuckling. "It'll be fine, just don't mess with it more than necessary so it heals nice. If you tear this part of your ear you're screwed." Roxas held up a mirror for Axel to look at himself in. "What do you think?"

Turning his face slightly to the side and looking at his ear from the corner of his eye, Axel grinned sharply. "Yup, I'd fuck myself," he said proudly. "So all's fine." Then he laughed at the look in Roxas' face that clearly spoke of how much he thought him an incredible moron and shook his head, eyes returning to the mirror. "Nah, just joking. I think it's really neat; you did well and the piercing was the right choice."

Roxas couldn't help but laugh; if there was one thing Axel lacked it wasn't self confidence. The slightest bit of narcissism never really hurt in that. "Alright, you know the drill. Keep the wounds clean and come back next week so I can make sure it is healing well, ok? And read the directions on the care card, then you might not get that gross pus."

Axel grinned a grin that clearly said 'you got me there.' He took the cloth from Roxas' head and kept it pressed to his ear as he rose from the chair. "Same day, next week then? You gonna be there or should I just go to someone else when you're not here?" He cocked his head to the side. "It doesn't actually matter who controls, so..."

Roxas nodded, tilting her head from side to side as if she was contemplating being here or not. "Yeah, I'll be here. If I'm busy, ask someone else to check it for you, that shouldn't be a problem. Let me know if you're going to want another piercing though, because I'll definitely be able to squeeze you in."

"Say, are you getting promoted or stuff for repeatedly piercing the same customer?" Axel asked, unable to withhold a snigger. "Cause I'd say if you do you're pretty damn lucky having found me."

"No, not quite," Roxas said, shaking her head. "On one hand I'm saving you from my boss and coworker, who'd probably have kicked you a few times by now, and on the other I'd like to open my own shop some day, so it helps when you have a clientele who knows you and the kind of work you do."

"Well if you'll get your own store I'll certainly come to you then, less chance of getting my ass kicked and all." Axel snorted. "Are they that terrible or am I?" Inwardly he thought that Roxas just wanted him all for himself; that was probably the reason he said that stuff about his coworkers.

"Nah, you're not that bad. Paine is however far more likely to kick your ass just because she can though. As far as sadism goes she makes me seem harmless."

"Yeah, sadism fits girls pretty well." A grin. "My ex was one... Fuck, she was a living nightmare. Even worse than Voldemort. Yes, this is possible. I've been there; seen it. Though, a woman named after 'pain' shouldn't be messed with, eh?"

Check one for a possible Harry Potter nerd, Roxas thought to herself with a secretive grin. "Nope, definitely a good idea to steer clear of her, Paine's not afraid to make you bleed. But hey, the 'ex' is always a good thing. Now you don't have to deal with her."

"Thank all the deities I don't." Axel nodded in enthusiasm and let his face grimace at the thought of Larxene. "I tell you, /some/ girls..." Raising his eyebrows, Axel looked at Roxas with an all-knowing gleam in his eyes. "Would tell ya to stay clear of those but you don't have that particular problem."

"Nope, can't say I do," Roxas said, cleaning the piercing gun leisurely. "I dated one briefly in college though, and I'm really glad to not be with her anymore. She got off on the craziest stuff," Roxas shook her head, trailing off.

"Huh." For a while, Axel watched the way Roxas' hand held the sterilizing cloths as she cleaned her needles; it appeared to be a decidedly feminine gesture, once more confirming Axel's suspicions. There was an urgent question waiting to be asked, and Axel had a hard time refusing his own curiosity. He had no issue with people who preferred their own gender; he just couldn't understand the appeal about it. "So what do you like more about being with a guy than a girl? Aside from the obvious parts," he added, referring to physical differences.

"Women are more adventurous," Roxas said after a moment of consideration. "I like people who are willing to try different things with me, and guys aren't always like that - they're more concerned with protecting their masculinity or some shit. It's hard to explain, liking men more than women - I can't even say I do, I just kind of go along with who I'm attracted to. And it just so happens that I tend to be more attracted to guys. Obvious parts aside, of course," she smirked, thinking of various situations and advantages to both sexes.

Judging from Roxas' description of women and the way he preferred open-minded people, Axel almost thought that women suited him better, after all. He didn't really seem fond of his own gender and appeared to be a little unwilling (resigned, at least) at how he just couldn't help being attracted to men anyway. Which really sucked, Axel concluded. If he thought little of men in general but his stupid brain and dick virtually told him to shut the fuck up, that he had no choice in the matter - Axel'd probably be pissed off, too.

"Well, each to their own, I guess." He shrugged his shoulders. "Guys can be cool, sure, but I can't see myself kissing another guy, like, _at all_."

Roxas frowned slightly, feeling like she'd been misunderstood. "Look, it's not like I don't actually like guys, it's just harder to explain to someone who is clearly not in my head why I like one over the other. Could you explain why you prefer any sex to someone else? If I like a person I go for it, it doesn't matter to me if they've got a dick or not." Roxas shrugged then, just wanting to drop the subject with him. "Like you said, to each their own."

Axel didn't appreciate the feeling that suddenly welled up in his stomach. Sure he could be insensitive and easily inconsiderate but he wasn't some superficial, brutish jackass, which Roxas' opinion made him feel like. There'd been an incident, once, and Axel had indeed tried something with a boy; or, he'd _tried _to try and just hadn't been able to work up the nerve. On some level, he even envied Roxas' attitude since he wasn't reducing potential partners to their sex organs. Axel sort of wished it came that easily to him as it came to Roxas...

"That's good, kid," Axel said honestly. "If more people were like you, there'd be fewer problems."

"Thanks," Roxas said a moment later, genuinely thankful. "I appreciate that." Something in her chest welled up uncomfortably, but she pushed that away. "And don't call me 'kid,'" she teased, "I am older than you, remember?"

"You're older," Axel agreed, grateful for the chance to lighten things up a little. Having heart-to-hearts with practical strangers wasn't much his scene. He snorted, then grinned. "One of Snow White's seven dwarfs... Old and tiny. And mighty dangerous with your axe disguised as piercing needle."

"HA! I'd rather be tiny than freakishly tall, though I'm really not that short. I'm five and a half feet man, cut me some slack."

"There anyone particular you're referring to? Cause it's not just my body size I'm so generously endowed with," Axel said snarkily, waggling his eyebrows. "Dunno if you got so lucky."

"Uh, wow, that's kind of forward of you," Roxas snorted after staring at him for a moment wondering 'Is this guy for real?!' "If you're advertising you better be prepared to back it up," she said, her face turning red. Axel had basically just openly said he was hung, and after all their other conversations Roxas was confused but ready to look and see for herself.

Was Roxas for /real/? Axel'd never met a guy before who got off on having his dick insulted. 'You didn't get so lucky' was a synonym for 'bet your dick is as small as you are,' and even if it was in fun, most guys didn't... basically tell Axel they wanted a look at what was inside his pants. Either one of them was terribly stupid and misinterpreted /all/ the things or Roxas was just that kind of bastard who'd picked up on Axel's uneasiness with having a guy coming onto him and wanted to exploit it totally to pay Axel back for being such a douche. Not thinking long about it, Axel decided that the later was probably the case as it fit his impression of 'Roxas the sadist'. Darkly, Axel thought Roxas was indeed the bullying sadist type.

But if Roxas could play the game, he could play it ten times better. "I can back it up all you like, but I'm not so sure if your tiny self can handle all of me," he retorted without hesitation. If this was a game and no real interest of Roxas' side involved, Axel could be cheek and flirt without any qualms.

"On second thought, please don't expose yourself. You might scare away my potential customers," Roxas retorted, shaking her head and laughing. This was too good. Maybe she'd ask him out anyway, despite her misgivings; no one had made her laugh as hard as he in a while. "Keep your pants on, leave show and tell for after business hours, ok? I was only kidding with you. It's not every day someone asks how well-endowed you are after all, come on," she said with an outright laugh.

"Already backing off, aren't you?" Axel smirked at the blond's response, mind singing 'liar, liar,' as Roxas tried to talk himself out of it. "Probably better for your unlucky self; you'd have hell of a lot competitors if everyone saw this, shorty."

"Someone's overconfident," Roxas drawled, getting up with her piercing supplies and walking away.

The grin at Roxas' retreat almost split Axel's face in half. This was actually fun, flirting with a boy. He always needed to watch out for the invisible boundaries girls built up, expecting him to know how far he could go and how far not, with the result that he quickly and easily exaggerated. Roxas, however, was way more laid-back than girls. He could be as arrogant as he wanted to be and not get a glare or a hand to the face as result but snarky retorts that just made it more intriguing. If there only wasn't this stupid problem of genitalia...

Oh, but fun was still fun.

"Or someone just doesn't stand for what's being said," he said loudly, hoping to make Roxas hear. After that, he got up and left the shop, feeling amused and entertained as he hadn't felt in a long time.

Wow, what a douche, Roxas thought angrily as he disappeared around the corner. The bastard hadn't paid her for the piercing. _Dick,_ she growled to herself. Paine was going to kill her.


	3. Chapter 3

**Title: **Domino

**Pairing: **Axel/f!Roxas

**Warnings: **genderswap, piercings and blood, language, epic snark, Axel being a dick, sex, slightly kinky sex

**Rating: **R/NC-17

**Beta**: alovelysilence

**A/N: **written with the lovely Pia/rotersternxx/letsfuckitupboys. Started out as a roleplay, and as we approached 100,000 words we figured why the hell not post it.

**Disclaimer: **We don't own Kingdom Hearts (or else KH3 would have been out by now), but we do get a kick out of writing for the fandom.

**Summary: **This is the story of a boy and a girl, who by all rights would never have met if the boy hadn't had a spontaneous desire to get a piercing at stupid o'clock on a Saturday morning. This is a story about falling in love and the mistakes that we make during the fall – about the boy you drenched in beer and the girl you never saw coming.

**Chapter Summary: **The victim: Axel. The culprit: Roxas in the bar with Guinness (and good reason).

3

The next time Axel showed up the shop was actually busy. Paine and Hayner had been called in to help out with the sudden rush of teenage girls wanting their navels pierced, which drove everyone up a wall. Roxas was waiting for a fifteen year old to pick out her jewelry (she'd been hemming and hawing over the decision for what seemed like an hour) when Axel strolled in, and Roxas abandoned the girl and caught him immediately. "YOU. Asshole. Get over here," she commanded.

It was quite a difference seeing the shop so busy it was almost bursting with people. Axel eyed the army of girls, feeling suddenly very out of place. A grab at the sleeve and an 'asshole' later, he was confronted with Roxas – a furious version of Roxas. He shook himself free of the grip and crossed his arms. He'd seen a mildly angry Roxas before, but furious was brand new. Still, Axel wouldn't let himself be pushed around for nothing. "Why, hello there Axel, it's so good to see you! What's up?" he mimicked Roxas' girlish voice, then affected his normal, deeper tone once he was finished. "Oh nothing much, aside from some people confusing 'hello' with 'asshole'."

"Fuck that, you owe me thirty bucks!" Roxas hissed, ignoring the gasping teenage girls. "You were so busy talking up your _endowments_ that you walked out with a fresh piercing and _didn't pay_ so yeah, I feel pretty much like 'asshole' is warranted," Roxas huffed, crossing her arms over her small chest.

"Wait wait wait-_what_?" He stared at the smaller boy as he tried to remember the last time. They'd been joking around, then Roxas had backed off after Axel's teasing got too colourful... And Axel... yeah. Yeah, he just got up and left, having entirely forgotten that he still needed to pay. "Ooooh fuck! You're right!" He smacked his forehead with his palm, feeling incredibly stupid. "Damn, I knew there was _something_..."

"You're lucky Paine didn't push for a shoplifting charge, man," Roxas said wearily, rolling her eyes. "Make sure it doesn't happen again," she huffed. "Now sit right there and wait a couple minutes, I have to go pierce a navel." Roxas stalked away to go tend to the girl waiting for her. When she glanced over to the waiting area, Axel was still sitting there waiting. _Good _boy, she thought to herself.

It felt a little weird being bossed around by a pint-sized kid almost two heads smaller than him, but Axel caved anyway; he deserved it for doing such a shitty thing, even if it wasn't on purpose. Money was money and his thoughtlessness wasn't funny anymore if Roxas' job was on the line. So he remained sitting beside the entrance, fingers lying laced in his lap, watching the girls look for piercings that'd suit them.

When her own ordeal was over (there was no other way to describe the experience of teenage, modern versions of the classic Valley Girl squealing over the cutest belly charms or whatever), Roxas went back over to the sullen-looking redhead. "Alright, let's see your ear."

In his absentminded state, Roxas seemed to be back surprisingly fast, almost catching Axel by surprise. "Yeah, all right." He pulled his hair back to reveal his ear.

Roxas was pleased with how Axel's ear was healing; the swelling was down, though the wounds were still a bit red and looked like they might have bled recently. "It looks good, you're taking good care of this one. Keep it up. If the cartilage starts to feel too tender or painful, antiseptic should help take care of that." Roxas pulled her hand away and looked at Axel approvingly, her ire calmed somewhat now that she could see he seemed truly cowed by his mistake and her attitude. "Well, you look like a regular badass now. How does it feel?"

"Yeah well, this time I actually read the instructions. And I am a badass all right, man. Feels _awesome_. I am one of the hybrids uniting the piercing and tattoo fractions that have been in an eternal war." Waggling his eyebrows, he grinned. "The founding fathers would've been proclaimed me the new Jesus. All hail Axel, the leader of hybrids! And you, my blond-haired minion, have to swear eternal loyalty to me."

"Sorry Jesus, I'm atheist," Roxas chortled. "And sorry to burst your bubble, I qualified for hybrid Jesus status years ago. Sorry," she shrugged and grinned teasingly.

"Pfft no no no no no," Axel said disapprovingly. "Not true at all. With measly two or three tattoos you can't qualify. However, _I_, already having lots of my body covered in tattoos and planning on getting at least three other piercings - that's a hybrid right there. And you'll be forced to become religious if you see how well-endowed I am." He laughed outright, showing he was joking.

Roxas laughed with him, forgetting about the rest of the shop for that moment. This was nice; Axel really did share her sense of humor, and it was great to hang out with a guy – even a customer – who despite all other detracting traits really seemed to make her laugh. And the way he smiled at her threw her way off guard, enough to startle and make her heart skip a beat. Maybe, just maybe . . . "You're on, then. Let's see if you can convert me to your holiness," she said, her heart beating in her throat as she took the plunge head-first. "Come have a drink with me later."

In hindsight, this was where he slid still deeper into the mess he'd created himself. Later, Axel would have no one else to blame but himself.

__There was a tiny bit of suspicion sitting heavily in his guts. For a brief moment, Axel regarded the other boy seriously. Roxas was intelligent enough to comprehend the words "I am into girls," words Axel had spoken more than once, if he remembered correctly. This had started off as fun and Axel intended to keep it like that. So, fully trusting Roxas to remember that Axel didn't like boys like that, he didn't hesitate any further.

_Having a drink _didn't directly translate into _meeting up for a date _in Axel's head anyway. Not when it was a boy speaking to a boy, at least.

"So what've you got in mind?"

Roxas grinned. _Score_. "There's a bar downtown that I like," she said, telling him the name and address. "The bartender's a friend of mine. You want to go there?"

Axel leant in close to Roxas, dropping his voice as if telling him a secret. "Under one condition; I'm a total addict to cherry beer. They serve decent ones and I'm in. Hope your friend has magical hands."

"She does," Roxas promised. "And I'm pretty sure she stocks cherry beer. I'll see you later, then," Roxas said. She would have offered another piercing, but they were currently packed so he'd have to wait. "Oh! And my money, man."

"Ah damn, thought I could get away a second time! You sure I can't?" Axel pursed his lips, schooling his features into a kicked-puppy expression. "The promise of seeing something worthwhile isn't a good enough substitute?"

"Nope. Pay up," Roxas retorted, wiggling her fingers until Axel pulled his wallet out and put the money in her palm. "Good boy. Now I have a navel to pierce, I'll see you later!" she said, shooing him out of the shop.

Wow, and here I thought I had him hooked, Axel thought with a smirk to himself as he handed the boy the money. He had the address and time memorised and saluted Roxas as he turned to leave the shop with a teasing, "Have fun being sadistic!"

It was close to seven thirty when Axel arrived at the corner he and Roxas had agreed to meet up at. He was in a good enough mood even though his work had surprisingly called him in barely after he'd left the shop. He'd returned home briefly after six; a quick shower later, and he'd thrown on dark denim jeans and a plain black button-down shirt, taming his hair into a low ponytail brushing his shoulders before he'd left for downtown. He had mixed feelings about the evening, but was determined to have a nice night out with a friend.

Roxas left work at four, and went home to shower for later. She hoped tonight would be fun; Axel seemed like a really fun guy - despite moments of assholish glory - and like he'd be interesting to date. She just hoped he'd think the same of her.

She didn't really do much before she left; Roxas favored a no-nonsense, simple approach to dates, which meant she didn't like to dress herself up into someone she wasn't. Roxas was a tomboy with small breasts, short blonde hair, piercings and tattoos, not a girly-girl with a pink handbag and heels. She messed her hair a little so it looked windswept as she liked, put on some lip balm, and dressed in a pair of skinny jeans, boots, and a tank top with an off-the-shoulder shirt over it, and headed out towards the bar. She saw Tifa behind the bar, who immediately started to pour her a pint of her favorite Guinness. Roxas sat at the bar, chatting with Tifa briefly before Axel arrived.

Impatience soon came over Axel as he repeatedly checked his watch. Seven forty and his small friend was nowhere in sight. Tapping his feet agitatedly, he peered up and down the street. Nowhere a blond head, nowhere blue eyes. Furrowing his brow, he turned towards the bar. Maybe Roxas was already in there. Not thinking twice about it, he entered the bar and was greeted with a cozy ambience; the bar was furnished snazzily enough and not a bit shabby. Axel approved of Roxas' taste as his eyes wandered over the clientele, searching for blond and blue. He found a person sitting at the bar, sporting the disheveled hair Axel was looking for. Axel's grin froze a little when he made his way to Roxas - the guy was wearing pretty... feminine clothes if Axel saw that correctly. It made him pause a moment. He was unused to seeing Roxas dressed in such decidedly feminine clothes. Axel had guessed he was into boys but from his behaviour at the piercing studio Axel wouldn 't have pegged him as overtly feminine. A little perhaps, but nothing like this. Ah well, he thought, what the hell. Roxas' attire didn't matter a single bit since Axel was interested in his personality. Judging someone didn't mean you judged another person anyway, it was just a sign for what a superficial loser you were, Axel thought.

"Hey miget," he said casually, taking the freedom to ruffle briefly through Roxas' hair, tousling it even further. Sliding into the barstool next to Roxas', he shot the other boy a smile. "Survived work?"

Roxas slapped his hand away playfully. "Yeah, even got a surprise nipple piercing at the end of the day," Roxas smirked. "Always a highlight when I get to pierce private parts." She heard Tifa snort further down the bar, and saw her laughing into her arm at that. "I see you down there," Roxas called to Tifa, "quit laughing at me."

Then she turned back to Axel. "And look at you, you look half like a gentleman badass. Can I get you a drink?"

"Sure. The first reason you even got me here is for your friend's magical hands. A cherry beer as promised, please." Straightening a little in the chair, he supported himself with one arm on the counter and faced Roxas. "So what, I get to stay around stoves burning my handsome self and you get to pierce nipples?" Axel let out a woeful sigh and shook his head. "Clearly chose the wrong job."

Roxas ordered a cherry beer for Axel from Tifa before turning back to the redhead. "Yeah I get to pierce nipples, but I also get the hoards of teenage girls squalling at me about which belly button ring looks the best - feels like being back in high school sometimes. Where do you work?" she asked curiously, taking a sip of her beer.

"Eh, I'm a slave to the kitchen." He shrugged his shoulders, a _'what can you do?_' kind of gesture. "Nah, I'm more the slavedriver, actually. I'm a chef down at that fancy _Sunlight _restaurant, the one on the other side of town. Not really my setting... most of those guys are absolutely posh. My brother had to punch me to make me apply there at all. I have to put _make-up _on my face to cover my tattoos, for God's sake." Axel pulls his face into a grimace. "The only redeeming thing is the paycheck, 'cause they don't pay so bad."

"A paycheck is a paycheck," Roxas agreed, "but you're right, I can't picture you amongst all the posh French chefs. I know the place, my friend had her wedding reception there - way too fancy for my taste. And they make you wear make-up? Hey, if you where more make-up than me on a daily basis I'm not sure this will work out," Roxas joked, genuinely amused at his predicament.

Axel instantly wanted to ask just _what_ wasn't going to work out. He had his mouth open, drawn in breath - and in precisely that moment there was a dull 'clunk' on the table before him. Roxas' friend, the bartender, was standing there, politely saying, "Enjoy your beer, sir." Axel couldn't help but drag his eyes over her lithe form, the prominent upper body and that delicate, pretty face. Before he knew it he'd had a suave expression on his face and was utterly in flirting-mode. "Well hello there," he said, turning towards the woman, putting on his most charming grin. Damn, that woman was a looker. Roxas was momentarily forgotten. "As long as I got this view before me, I'll enjoy anything." The woman rolled her eyes, apparently used to having idiots hit on her, and left him without another glance. Axel eyed her curves as she left and then returned to Roxas with a sly grin. "Sorry Rox, got a little distracted." It took him a moment to remember where they'd left off and he'd entirely forgotten his initial question. "Yeah, there are a lot of assholes working there. But I earn well and as long as I've got enough time to draw in my free time, it's okay."

Roxas had a sinking feeling that she should have suggested meeting somewhere else; she should have known that Axel would be immediately drawn to Tifa and her ample assets because after all, why take the skinny thing when Tifa was standing across the bar from you? She gave Axel a somewhat strained smile. "You're easily distracted," Roxas teased, though she didn't bother to hide the slight edge in her tone. "And so long as you have time to come bother me in my shop once in a while, that seems to be a favorite pastime."

"Ahahaha yeah, bothering you is my favourite pastime!" Axel chuckled at the memory of Roxas' red face and those blue eyes glinting with anger. "Can't help it. It's fun annoying you because I get you're not taking any of my shit but give it back to me tenfold. And man, _what _a mouth you have on you. But that's a good thing," he said, suddenly a little more serious. "It's better not taking shit from anyone."

"And you haven't even seen my true colors yet," Roxas commented. "You really don't want to get into a war of the words with me, it wouldn't be pretty. You have no idea what my mouth can do," she said slyly.

Axel almost snorted out the cherry beer, barely held it back. Roxas had him tied by the finger, was able to shock him with teasing words like this. And oh, _did _it work; Axel's cheeks were flushed and he briefly slapped his chest, coughing. Fuck him, fuck the teasing bastard with his smirks and allusions that were obvious as hell. Roxas couldn't possibly be serious about his flirting, there couldn't possibly be emotions involved. The image of Roxas got clearer and clearer: a freaking sadist that enjoyed seeing Axel's flushed face and tried to get him to stutter. But oh, Roxas would _fail_. He'd fail, and Axel'd be the cause.

"I'm not sure if it can all fit in your mouth, lovely," he muttered at last, openly staring Roxas in the face, daring him to speak. It was easy to play this game; two could do it and Axel would win. Lids drooping, Axel leaned closer, kept the eye contact and licked his lips. "My standards are high, so you'd have to be quite talented."

Roxas' grin sharpened as she mirrored his movements, leaning in closer so he could feel her breath against his skin. She lowered her own lashes, all but purring the words, "Try me, sweetheart," while laying a hand on his leg, just above his knee. "I could rock your world." Please, Roxas prayed, please, for the love of whatever deity is looking down, he needs to come home with me tonight. This was too good, too much fun, and his challenges made her want to prove them wrong right there in the bar.

There was something wrong with Axel to be reacting like this. His leg burnt around the shape of Roxas' hand, the denim uncomfortably warm in the place where the other boy touched him. The warmth didn't stay there, though, it slithered up his legs, stabbed red-hot lust into his belly. Up this close... with Roxas' dark eyes half hidden and his parted lips... Axel could almost mistake him for a girl. It was so easy to do it, really. So easy to mistake the boy for a fantasy supported by Roxas' physical attributes: fine long eyelashes fluttering over burning eyes; the soft curve of the delicate jaw; that striking cupid's bow; plush lips. It was hard not to flush a dark shade of red and again, Axel was barely able to fight it off. Fuck, it was too easy. Way too easy to mistake Roxas for a girl.

Almost.

It took Axel a few seconds to gather himself, to react at all. Not many girls had spoken like this to him - so open and direct - and Axel wasn't used to having someone coming onto him like _that_. But he was used to bullshitting and faking, which was why it was easy to continue along with their game.

"Yeah?" He leaned in even closer, tilted his head a little. "If you've enough stamina to last a whole night long, then fine. I'm not gonna lie... once doesn't satisfy me. I expect to fuck you the whole night long. Above me, under me, against the wall. You'll be hoarse, you'll beg, you'll be trembling all over. I'm gonna fuck you so _hard_, Rox." The current swept him away, and didn't hold back. He spoke in low tones, deliberately slow. "I'm gonna fuck you so _hard _you're that going to feel me for days... with every... single... step."

If that didn't scare him off, Axel didn't know what could.

That didn't scare her.

That _thrilled_ her.

The banter that seemed to define their relationship wouldn't be translated into something soft later; Roxas could see them fucking like that, hard and bordering on rough, all the time - and later she'd lay him out face-down on the bed fuck him with her strap-on, _oh hell yes_. She _wanted_ to feel him for days after, to feel that twinge inside her and know that he'd fucked her to incoherence. His words, his tone, and the ghosting of his breath across her lips were all making her hot and wet; Roxas thought about unzipping their pants and riding him right there, but then she remembered.

Ah. In public. Time to fix that.

"Good," Roxas purred back, "because I'm gonna ride you so fucking hard my name is gonna be the only thing you can say - if you can speak after, that is." Then she leaned in and kissed him; it didn't take that much movement on her part, their faces were nearly an inch apart by the time Roxas caved. She kissed him hard, ignoring the catcalls she vaguely heard, before pulling back and seeing the blatant dumbstruck expression on his face. "Your place . . . or mine?"

Axel had no time to think about why his body heated up to an insane level when Roxas spoke. There was a sudden, forceful tug in his stomach he nearly mistook for an oncoming cramp. It was another violent stab of lust that shot through his guts and mortified the hell out of him. Sporting the beginnings of a raging erection in the fork of his legs, Axel blanched when he felt a pair of lips pressing in a demanding kiss against his own.

First, there was silence. Absolute, utter silence in Axel's head. There wasn't a single thought, no stir. Everything was quiet and Axel was staring wide-eyed, open-mouthed and frozen when Roxas pulled back. Suddenly, from out of nowhere, his chest hurt with some sinking feeling he couldn't really identify. Axel was absolutely horrified when the ease of the situation transformed into the painful awareness that this, this was no game. And he didn't know what it was that made him sick - perhaps it was the hopeful look in Roxas' eyes - but his stomach didn't hurt from arousal now.

Something was entirely fucking wrong here.

Mouth moving soundlessly for what he deemed an eternity, Axel finally settled on two words, still entirely incoherent. "The fuck?" He pulled back hastily, back rigid like a wooden plane. He didn't think twice about pushing Roxas' hand off him, and none too gently either. His words were harsh and hard, unforgiving. Fun would forever be fun. But even fun had a limit. "The fuck? Are you messing with me, kid? Are you actually trying to fucking _mess _with me?"

Well that was a ladyboner-killer if she ever knew one. Axel pulled away abruptly, stiffening and staring at her like she had three fucking heads, and when he actually opened his mouth Roxas felt her stomach drop like a stone. What the hell was his problem? He'd JUST finished flirting with her mercilessly, had just finished telling her how he'd make her scream and one kiss sent him into a rage? "What the hell's your problem?" she snapped. "No really, what the hell - _messing_ with you? Fuck no, dude, I'm not messing with you. What's your deal, you lead people on and then turn around and treat them like shit the second you're out with them? What the _fuck_ is wrong with you?"

"Wrong with ME?" Axel laughed bitterly, hands running agitatedly over his forearms. He was uncomfortable, completely appalled by the fact that a boy had been able to arouse him and he didn't know how to deal with it. "What's wrong with you, you freak? You getting off on tricking people and pushing them around with shit you know they can't fucking stand?" There was an edge in his voice now. "I told you repeatedly I'm not into - into shit like this, I fucking flirted with your friend before your eyes for fuck's sake! What didn't you understand about this?! You were fucking with me from the beginning weren't you? I thought it was a game and you wanted to see how far you could push me - congrats, that was the fucking line. I'm fucking out, you asshole." He stood up, entire body chilled with incomprehension. He'd gotten along so well with the kid he'd thought they could even become friends. But Axel had no spare thought for fuckers messing with him.

Roxas felt like she'd been slapped, then punched in the gut repeatedly. Normally, a guy wouldn't have made it more than a few words into a tirade like that, but she _liked_ Axel, and to hear him go off like that struck her dumb. And - and then he called her a _freak_, that stung deeper than it had since she was an awkward middle schooler. That _hurt_, that made her want to give into the impulse to just start crying - but there was something there, something that he said that sent her mind into overdrive.

_'I told you repeatedly I'm not into'_ . . . Roxas tossed those words around in her head as Axel stood, still snarling. What had he said? What had he repeated? She filtered through all their conversations in her mind until-

Oh, hell.

He thought she was a boy.

Fucking _hell_.

Roxas snarled and stood, grabbing her beer and tossing it in Axel's face, drenching him. "You asshole," she spat, grabbing the front of his shirt and shoving him back down onto the stool. "You fucking asshole, this wasn't some fucking game and I'm not a fucking _boy_, god damn it. I'm a _girl_," Roxas hissed. Shaking her head disgustedly, Roxas paid for her beer and stalked out of the bar.

Axel didn't register the aftermath at all. There might've been a tempest raging at him in the form of a tiny blond something before him, but it didn't register. That he was soaked in cherry beer and reeked like the asshole he actually was didn't register either. There wasn't much, really there was nothing but a terrifying blankness unfurling in Axel's mind, letting him sink back heavily onto the chair. He remained sitting there, zombie-like, until he threw a five dollar bill onto the counter and left without another word.


	4. Chapter 4

**Title: **Domino

**Pairing: **Axel/f!Roxas

**Warnings: **genderswap, piercings and blood, language, epic snark, Axel being a dick, sex, slightly kinky sex

**Rating: **R/NC-17

**Beta**: alovelysilence

**A/N: **written with the lovely Pia/rotersternxx/letsfuckitupboys. Started out as a roleplay, and as we approached 100,000 words we figured why the hell not post it.

**Disclaimer: **We don't own Kingdom Hearts (or else KH3 would have been out by now), but we do get a kick out of writing for the fandom.

**Summary: **This is the story of a boy and a girl, who by all rights would never have met if the boy hadn't had a spontaneous desire to get a piercing at stupid o'clock on a Saturday morning. This is a story about falling in love and the mistakes that we make during the fall – about the boy you drenched in beer and the girl you never saw coming.

**Chapter Summary: **The aftermath, and the chance of a new beginning.

4

For Axel, the next days were spent drowning in misery and anger directed at himself. He'd get up at four, be at work by five, and routine would guide him, help him not to tell his co-workers to fuck off or to spoil the food. He didn't need his own stupidity to transfer from his private life to work, too. It was enough to bear the feeling that he was the biggest, stupidest, most moronic idiot who'd ever walked on earth. It had taken some time to get it into his head at all - the boy he'd liked so much was actually a girl. A _she_. She, she, she. He'd mistaken _her_ - entertaining, charismatic, snarky Roxas - for a boy. And he'd remember all the blatant bullshit he'd said, all his needling about her liking boys and not girls. He remembered him-no, not him-he remembered _her _as genuinely open and honest, which was the reason Axel could've punched himself in the face each time he looked at his reflection in the mirror. Putting so much importance on someone else's sex organs had stolen him the chance of being with someone he'd really liked once before, and he was doing the same thing again. Only this time, the remorse was ten times greater. It made his heart skip beats, his chest hurt. He'd never had an aching chest before, fuck. An _aching _chest. What the fuck was that about? He knew the extent of his interest in Roxas, and it made him angry at Roxas for inducing these emotions inside him - he couldn't deal with them at all.

The worst thing was lying in bed that night and having his mind return to Roxas laughing. It was always the same moment - back in the shop, when he'd been teasing relentlessly, making Roxas blush. It was always the same face he saw - healthy red cheeks, those fine lips curled into a smile, a grin. The sound of her laughter. The worst was remembering her sarcasm, her bite, the ferocity hidden in such a small thing. Her openness, her willingness to indulge in his stupid sense of humour, even going along with it. In the midst of these swirling thoughts Axel had cut into his finger – luckily only a minor wound - while chopping vegetables and not even noticed the sting, only feeling the painful lurch of his guts when he realised the only thing he remembered was her energetic personality and the fun they had.

The worst was the mad fluttering in his stomach and knowing it had not a single thing to do with the body parts he'd so wrongly projected onto her.

Axel hadn't planned on what to say when he returned to the shop, and didn't know what he was doing there in the first place. He was sick of having his chest and stomach revolt against him, sick of lying awake until one or two, only getting a few hours of sleep. Sick of the echo of the hurt in her voice he kept hearing. So his feet had pulled him to the shop he'd been avoiding for almost a month now - had pulled him there without his conscious approval but then again, the reason why he'd even gotten into the mess the first place was the lack of control over his stupid mouth.

His stomach cramped around the tension curling tightly in his stomach when he took a step closer to see who was in charge. The shop was dead, and there was no one at the counter. Just like the first time he'd come here. Axel took a deep breath and shuddered through the sickness in his chest, and stepped forward, waiting for Roxas to appear.

As far as Roxas was concerned, if she never saw Axel again it would probably be better for both of them - for her, so that when she saw his face his cruel words wouldn't come back to haunt her, and for him so that she didn't break his fucking nose. Or do something terrible she'd likely get arrested for, which was really not what she needed. Roxas had really, genuinely liked him, but now that feeling was simply a memory buried six feet under, hopefully never to resurface.

The first few days after that horrendous date had been terrible, made worse by the fact that she had those days off from work. Originally, when she asked Axel to the bar and hell, even during the brief time they spent there Roxas was almost sure that would be a good thing - if she and Axel really _did_ hit it off, what would be stopping her from bringing him back to her apartment since she didn't have to work the next morning? But now, in the aftermath of that horrific debacle, Roxas wanted nothing more than to stay in her bed and do absolutely nothing. She stared in the mirror, naked, for what felt like hours on end just trying to figure out what was wrong with her body; that had been a low moment, reeling off in her mind all the things that could be done to make sure no one thought she was a boy again. She hated herself for that moment of weakness, of doubting that she was anything but herself. Roxas loved her body, it was what made her unique and different and herself on the outside; it was always other people who seemed to raise an eyebrow at it. In the end, she called Axel an asshole again under her breath, despite him being far away and unable to hear, and stalked out of her apartment to go out to drink with Tifa and some of her small group of friends, who all promptly verbally trashed Axel to hell. It made her feel marginally better to hear Hayner, Pence and Olette put him down for his behavior, though it was truly a hollow satisfaction.

She met someone too, not someone she considered boyfriend material or whatever, but someone whose company she enjoyed. He took her to a pub the evening they crossed paths and went back to her apartment with her later; they met up a few times over the course of the next few weeks, always hanging out in bars before going back to her place. He was intriguing and dangerous and full of snark, matching wits with her along with aggressiveness in the bedroom. He'd leave after they were done, he always left, but Roxas was fine with that - was content to curl up and sleep and examine the fingerprint bruises on her hips in the morning.

Still, there in the back of her mind, was Axel. He still haunted her.

Roxas was in the back making coffee when she saw Axel on the moniter and scowled. _That fucker,_ she thought darkly, _what's he doing here?_ After letting him stew for a little while - Roxas watched as he poked around the shop expectantly, looking for someone he was missing out front - before going out to the desk briskly. "Hi there," she said, sickeningly sweet, "what can I do for you this time? Please be aware that this coffee is hot and delicious, I'd hate to dump it on you."

When Roxas came to the front, Axel had a hard time keeping from flinching at her tone. He forced himself to remain calm. "I prefer getting soaked in beer over coffee," he joked nervously, avoiding the coldness of those blue eyes glaring at him. He wasn't expecting anything different, but the reality was worse than what he'd imagined. His stomach couldn't have sunken any farther than his ankles, yet it did. It sunk underneath his feet, waiting for Roxas to trample all over it, making him vomit. Yeah, that'd go over well - trying to apologise, ending up vomiting instead. His throat was dry as sand and swallowing hurt. "...I guess I deserve that, though."

He kept avoiding her eyes, the blue coldness tying the string around his neck tighter. He swallowed again. Closed his eyes. Took a deep breath. Here goes nothing, he thought distantly. Honesty or nothing.

Pulling all his courage together into this one attempt, he balled his hands into fists and raised his eyes to Roxas'. It felt impossible, trying to remain still while someone else was pointing a gun at your head, ready to paint the wall with your brain. It felt like braving a war, holding Roxas' stare. His voice was rough when he spoke.

"I came here to see you," he said at last. He'd practised this admission, the only thing he'd thought of saying. He'd never done it before and was as nervous as a virgin. Admitting (even indirectly) that he had feelings felt like being stripped bare; impossibly vulnerable. Just waiting for the other to stab him into some soft, skin-thinned place. Like he'd done to Roxas. "I came here to see you and to apologise for the shit I pulled."

"You deserve a hell of a lot more shit from me as far as I'm concerned," Roxas said icily, "and I deserve one hell of an apology if that's really why you're here, Axel."

She didn't want this. Roxas had expected to never see his face again and was quite content with him not there, even if his face and voice still haunted her on occasion. Yet here he was, visibly vulnerable and cowed in her presence, sounding genuinely apologetic and regretful. She could feel the emotions she'd buried start to claw their way out of the coffin buried deep in her mind, and stomped on them brutally. Even then, they still kept coming. In another part of her mind, Roxas knew she should have said something when Axel kept talking about liking girls and his repeated references to not liking men. And yet, the asshole had virtually slapped her with his torrent of words.

"The shit you pulled," Roxas mused, pretending to think deeply. "You hurt me, called me a freak, humiliated me - and yourself, for that matter - in the middle of a bar . . . and you come to _see me_?"

"I do," he said without a moment's hesitation, voice raw and firm. He didn't know much beside how much he must've hurt her and that he wanted to see her. That was the truth. Her smile and her laugh had haunted his dreams and if she looked closer, she could see dark shadows underneath Axel's eyes, faint dark blue circles. He hadn't slept a second last night. "I do. I wanted to see you. I couldn't..." _stop thinking about you and the way your eyes glinted when you laughed. And the way your cheeks dimpled when you smiled. Your voice. Your eyes. The touch of your hand on my leg,_ he thought but couldn't say another single thing.

"Listen, I... I get that you'd like to smash my face in, I really do. But will you..." he paused, felt ridiculously stupid. He was _grovelling_. If anyone had told him he'd do that because of a girl, he would have beaten the shit out of them. He'd always considered this to be something beneath him. Axel didn't need emotions, never had. He'd lived well without them. But his heart hurt too much at the sight of her, his hands trembled too much at the memory of the hurt in her voice, in her eyes. There was something about her he couldn't figure out for the hell of him but he wouldn't let her go without trying. They'd gotten along too well for that before he fucked up. He wanted to see her unguarded again, wanted to make her smile again. To do this, he forced his pride aside, spoke quickly through a shuddering breath. "Will you-will you let me try to explain myself to you? I mean not explain cause I can't possibly justify fucking up like this but-I just... I don't even know if I wanna call this a second chance but..." he trailed off, eyes glued to the ground. He wanted to be buried thousand feet beneath the earth right now. The last part came hushed, like it wasn't deliberate, shouldn't be heard. "But I... I just really wanted to see you again."

Roxas paused before answering, biting her lower lip as she contemplated her answer. Several things were incredibly clear to her: first, that Axel was not someone who came and made apologies for his assholishness; second, that he was actually nervous but wasn't backing away from her anger; third, that he hadn't been sleeping, judging by the state of his eyes; and fourth, that he did really want to be here to talk with her. Maybe, even after all that, he was still interested in her and wanted a second chance at it.

If Axel didn't normally make a habit of apologizing - and if she was honest, this took balls to stand in front of someone and beg forgiveness like this - but he was now, did she think anything would change this time?

Maybe.

And maybe, just maybe, she could give him another chance. He might not deserve it, but something tugged at the heartstrings in her chest when she looked at him that made her second-guess herself.

"And now that you see me, what's next? You want to try to make it up to me?"

Axel's eyes came up in the meanwhile, taking in the picture of the hesitant girl before him. Now that he was looking at her with the knowledge that she was a girl, there were many things catching his attention. There was the way she held herself right now, her stance speaking of stubborn defiance laced with doubt; Axel couldn't comprehend, in this moment, how he'd ever seen a cruel bastard in her. He didn't want to think she was fragile because she wasn't - she was stubborn, proud and fierce - but she appeared as more delicate to him than before, perhaps softer, calmer. He deliberately kept his eyes on her face because he didn't want to stare at her body and try to make it more girly than it was by adding curves that simply weren't there. When he thought about how, again, this might be his imagination projecting things onto her, Axel snapped out of his reverie, cursing himself mentally. He needed to stop this. He needed to stop making up things for her and see her for what she really was. She was a person who'd been hurt, hurt cruelly, who'd been nothing but open and honest since the beginning. This was her considering a second chance and if he really wanted one, he better start off properly - stop making shit up, face the consequences of the fuck he'd pulled, and _fight_ for her.

"I do," he said again. His voice had grown a little stronger now. "I don't just want to leave. And if you won't throw your coffee at me, I'm not going to."

"Soooooo," Roxas said, drawing the word out, "even if I say no you wouldn't leave? That's not how you get a date, Axel," she reminded him, her tone hard but with the slightest hint of teasing. Roxas sighed and leaned back in her chair, rubbing the bridge of her nose with her fingers. Axel wasn't going away, that was for sure - or at least, that was what he promised. When she looked at him, Roxas could feel everything start to well up inside her again before she had to shut it down, because she was going to get way too emotional.

Fine. If Axel wanted another chance, she would give him one. It would take a while to get back to where she felt comfortable enough with him, like a month ago, but maybe if he worked hard enough she'd get there.

At long last and much eternal deliberation, Roxas nodded, biting her lip. "Ok. Another chance. I can't pick up from where we were before though - that would be a lie. Can you deal with that?"

_Another chance..._

__Axel's lips formed a smile, completely involuntary. He wasn't even aware of it, only kept his eyes on Roxas, carefully watching her, afraid she'd bolt any minute-afraid she'd change her mind and splash the coffee onto him anyway. It was obvious she was conflicted and unsure about this; she didn't look very happy with giving him a second chance and Axel's stomach contorted when she said she couldn't just pick up from where they'd left off. But he'd expected that too. He wasn't happy about it, but he could deal with it. What he hadn't expected, though, was having her say yes on the first try. He'd counted on having to come back a second or third time. Perhaps, then... there was still something that drew her to him, even with the stuff that'd happened. The thought made his eyes widen, lighten up.

"If you can deal with my assface, then I can deal with that." Laughing nervously, Axel allowed his hands to loosen a little and stuck them into his pockets. If he were to take a look at himself, he wouldn't recognize who was standing before him. He was _never _nervous. And her making him nervous was the reason he'd come up here after all. A challenge was a challenge, and he never backed down.

The smile that crept over his face as she spoke unnerved Roxas a little; was he really that happy with her saying ok? He looked like he'd just won the lottery, but was trying to keep it hidden so he wouldn't freak her out.

"Well, you're still standing on your feet with all limbs and body parts still attached, so I'd say my tolerance for your assface is pretty high," Roxas drawled, smirking a little. "Thanks. I appreciate it though, being able to take this back a little. I want to make sure we both know what's real and what's a game this time around," she said wryly, but without any bitterness or anything. "Anyways, if you're interested in getting together at some point, we can meet for drinks tomorrow, maybe? I have some plans tonight, but I'm free later."

Actually, he had something planned for tomorrow. A splatter-movie evening with a few friends, but Axel figured they could enjoy the gore on their own, too. Roxas wanting to meet up this quickly made his chest flutter, and he thought it was so loud Roxas must've heard it. He coughed to cover it up, calming his paranoia a little.

"Sure, tomorrow's great. You want to go out for drinks? You know another place?" It probably wasn't a good idea to go back to the bar they'd been at last time. Roxas knew that, too.

Roxas nodded. If they went to the same bar, Tifa would probably spray him with cherry beer on sight. "Yeah, I know of another place downtown. It's over by the theater, do you know it? The bartender makes a mean Hurricane," she said, giving him a small smile. This was ok, she thought. She could work with this. "So I guess I'll see you tomorrow, then? A bit after seven, maybe?"

"No, doesn't really sound familiar, actually. Let's just meet up at the theater around seven - that fine?" He waited for Roxas to nod her assent, then nodded himself. So it was settled - seven at the theatre, tomorrow. His stomach was already clenching again, promising him a terrible night full of dreadful, sick anticipation. It made him angry as much as it excited him. He still didn't get the shit he was... "feeling." Before he got too emotional, though, he turned to make his leave, glancing at Roxas a last time. "Listen, I... really appreciate this." There was a flush creeping from his neck onto his cheeks, and he turned around wholly to avoid Roxas seeing the blush. A muttered "thanks" later, and Axel vanished.

Roxas caught a glimpse of his blush, but decided to spare him the teasing. He left pretty quickly after that, and Roxas had to chuckle a little bit; Axel seemed completely out of his element, coming here to talk to her. In the end, she had to give him credit for putting his big boy panties on and braving her rage.


	5. Chapter 5

**Title: **Domino

**Pairing: **Axel/f!Roxas

**Warnings: **genderswap, piercings and blood, language, epic snark, Axel being a dick, sex, slightly kinky sex

**Rating: **R/NC-17

**Beta**: alovelysilence

**A/N: **written with the lovely Pia/rotersternxx/letsfuckitupboys. Started out as a roleplay, and as we approached 100,000 words we figured why the hell not post it.

**Disclaimer: **We don't own Kingdom Hearts (or else KH3 would have been out by now), but we do get a kick out of writing for the fandom.

**Summary: **This is the story of a boy and a girl, who by all rights would never have met if the boy hadn't had a spontaneous desire to get a piercing at stupid o'clock on a Saturday morning. This is a story about falling in love and the mistakes that we make during the fall – about the boy you drenched in beer and the girl you never saw coming.

**Chapter Summary: **In which Axel and Roxas go on a date and no one ends up drenched in beer.

5

Roxas went about her night as planned, and worked the whole next day, doing a piercing here and there but for the most part sitting around idly, waiting for the day to be over. With work completed Roxas went back home to her apartment in order to shower and change for the evening. There might have been a slightly more feminine touch to how she dressed, but if there was it was only the slightest change in wearing a shirt with a slightly lower cut. Roxas headed out to the theater and stood outside, waiting for Axel to arrive so she could bring him to the right place.

The next day at work was a disaster for Axel; his mind was scattered into tiny little pieces he just didn't manage to collect. His fingers were spared - he didn't cut himself this time - but there might've been a little too much cardamom in that one vegetable curry for it to be tasty, and his usually delicious green pesto had a strange pasty consistency. He was determined to leave work behind him as he came home, a little earlier than normal. He took a shower and selected his clothes a little more carefully than last time. Finally deciding on another pair of dark skinny jeans, black shirt and red Converse to go with a thin red scarf, he felt almost prepared to meet Roxas that night. It was different now, meeting her with the knowledge that she was a girl. He took off, and with each step he took closer, the butterflies in his stomach transformed into some perverse versions of monster mosquitos. At last he arrived and saw her already standing outside the theatre. He purposefully did not look at her attire - not even once - and his eyes stayed fixedly on her face. "Evening, Roxas," he greeted her, voice forcedly casual. He'd managed to calm down significantly, and his excitement wasn't as easy to perceive as the day before. "So where to?"

Roxas surveyed him appreciatively as he approached; he looked very well-dressed but casual, like he'd put some thought into what he was wearing before stepping out the door. The dark colors made his skin and hair stand out, and the scarf and shoes were nice, casual touches. She noticed that his eyes remained trained on her face, never straying.

"Hello there Axel," she greeted. "It's just a couple blocks away," she said, turning to walk down the street beside him. "So how have you been?" she asked casually, leading them into an older pub off on a sidestreet. It wasn't that packed yet, but it would get busy much later. They sat at the bar and Roxas ordered a Hurricane, the bartender's specialty.

"Eh, you know how it goes," he said, shrugging his shoulders. He got himself a simple coke, wanting to stay off alcohol tonight; his mouth needed constant surveillance, and zero alcohol made that way easier. "The usual. Work, going out, work, free time... work. Can't get enough of work at the moment," he said sardonically, sipping at his coke. He got more comfortable in the barstool and ran a hand through his hair. "Though I've been thinking about applying somewhere else. 'M not really sure yet; it'd be pretty risky. I'll see what I'm gonna do." He hesitated, not sure if he really wanted to ask her that. But he figured he owed her. Maybe she wanted to let off a bit steam. "What about you? How have the last weeks treated you?"

Roxas took a slow sip of her drink; she could hold her liquor just fine, and knew where her limits of coherency were when it came to alcohol. "Pretty much the same," she said with a small shrug. "was pretty shitty for a couple weeks, but you get up and move on after a little bit, right?" Roxas glanced over at him contemplatively. "Good luck finding another job though. Best to try for something else if you're unhappy there."

"'S not exactly being unhappy that's the problem. I like cooking well enough... If I didn't, I'd never taken up that job to begin with. Cooking has just always been more of a hobby, y'know? More like, oh today I feel like cooking a dinner that'll take a little longer. Not every day and certainly not under pressure." He sighed, rubbed at his forehead. "I wanna cook what /I/ want, don't wanna be limited to some ultra fancy dishes that taste like shit. And I guess most of the people there are okay, even with some damn big sticks up their asses. I get along well enough with lots of different people... But the ambience's shit most of the time, and when you make one joke you feel like you're in a fucking monastery and you've just said you're gonna fuck Mary up her ass." He ran his hand through his hair another time, agitation settling in his blood. He hadn't wanted to talk about work of all things, was just glad to have a little time off; being the chatterbox that he was, though, he couldn't shut up. He hoped Roxas wouldn't mind."They need me, though. We got three apprentices, and we're two chefs right now-used to be four-so they need me to teach 'em. I dunno. Hate feeling tied down like that. The comfort of having a job secured and being paid well is a plus... But it's no fucking use when I feel like I'm on a fucking funeral all the time. Just. Urrrg," he groaned, letting his head fall onto the counter. He spoke through his arms, "Kinda envy you. The people at your place are so much more easy-going..."

"Can't say I don't know what you're feeling, you know. I'd like my own shop sometime soon so I can be my own boss and all that," Roxas said, nodding. His wordvomit sounded vaguely familiar to her own musing. "Sorry, man, didn't mean to bring something up that agitated you like that. That wasn't the point of me asking you here. Change of subject - favorite movie genre? Epic action movies are mine."

Some corner of Axel's mind rubbed its hands in glee and wondered just what it was that Roxas had brought him here for. Barely able to keep from thinking back at the way her mouth had run dirty that last time before it went to shit, Axel's cheeks flushed a little. And he allowed himself a mean, wide grin in the darkness of his arms. Better not get too excited, he told himself.

A moment passed, the grin sliding into a smile, and Axel turned his head to the side, peeked at Roxas. "Disney," he said, eyes narrowing as if daring Roxas to say something against it. Disney, to Axel, was indeed very adult and absolutely, utterly manly. (He liked his delusions.) Then he grinned again and laughed. "I don't really have some favorite genre, I guess. I'm pretty selective concerning movies. But if I had to choose..." Tilting his head a little, he pursed his lips in thought. "Psycho thrillers, then. Not stupid splatter stuff, more the kind that makes you feel breath on your skin when you sleep. The shit that really makes you paranoid."

"Well that doesn't sound terrifying at all," Roxas laughed. "I can't watch those very often, I have too active an imagination." Which was absolutely true - the last time she'd seen a thriller like that she hadn't slept because she was sure there was something outside her window or under her bed. "I approve of Disney, though, that stuff isn't for kids, man. Walt Disney was a mad genius. Which one's your favorite?"

Axel raised an eyebrow, smiled. Openly admitting he was smitten with Disney and getting no laughs in return? Score for Roxas. All the other girls he'd met thought it was something that required being laughed at, like a guy adoring Disney was consequently, exclusively gay. "Yeah, Disney is pretty much psychological trauma all around..." He nodded, then briefly thought back to The Lion King and the angry screaming and tears Mufasa's death had brought. Definitely nothing for kids. "Weeell, The Lion King's pretty much on top of the list. Unbeaten, blatant number one. What's yours?"

Roxas had to think about this carefully. There were a lot of good movies to choose from, and Axel had certainly picked a good one. "It's a tie," she finally answered. "Not technically Disney, but they own it now so The Nightmare Before Christmas - and Mulan. Mulan edges out to be the favorite though, if we can only pick one. The Lion King is a pretty close third."

"Mulan is pretty good, yeah." He wondered whether he should admit it; he'd never seen The Nightmare Before Christmas before. This - not admitting to liking Disney - might indeed warrant a few laughs now... But Roxas was cool, so he went for it. "Have never seen Nightmare Before Christmas, though. Did I miss something good?"

"Dude, are you serious? That's one of the best ones! Tim Burton is one creepy mad genius," she said, almost choking on her drink at first. If they continued to go out, she'd definitely have to show him the movie.

"Hmmm. I liked his version of Alice in Wonderland well enough, I guess. Especially Helena Bonham Carter - she played her role well," Axel mused. "You're a regular Burton fan, aren't you? What kinda others movies from Burton did you see?" He didn't say it out loud, but he was kind of hoping they'd get around to watching the movie together, sometime.

"Edward Scissorhands is a good film," she said, "And his Alice interpretation too. Sweeney Todd's another one. If I'm going to watch a creepy movie, I'd rather it be one of his - he always has a unique take on creepy, but then there's always the dark humor added in so you know he's just fucking around with you. Also, can't lie, having Johnny Depp in nearly everything doesn't hurt."

"Yeah, Jonny Depp kind of improves every movie, no matter how shitty they are. So Burton did Sweeney Todd too?" Axel raised an eyebrow, interested. "Gotta say, that movie is wicked; I love it. Normally I'm not the type for musicals or lots of singing in movies, but without this little touch, the movie wouldn't be so great..." Furrowing his brow and pursing his lips, Axel imitated a deeper tone. "'The world's a great black pit and it's filled with people who are filled with shit!'" He threw his head back and laughed. "Yeah, have seen that movie too many times already, I guess."

That was a surprise - Axel had quite a nice singing voice. She could listen to him sing for a little while if he wanted to. "I can see that," she laughed. "Yeah, that was Burton. That whole movie was crazy and entertainingly creepy. I haven't seen it in a little while, but I remember it vividly. Alright, favorite place you've ever been - city, country, specific place, whatever comes to mind first."

"Favorite place, huh." Axel scratched his chin, pretending to think hard about it. "Easy one: Spain. Been there lots of times in my childhood since my mother's Spanish, so we went there pretty often. Love the climate, love the people. Most Spanish people are open and cheerful, and pretty talkative. Don't like the boring slow idiots 'round here. Need some _fire_." He grinned a wide grin, showing all his teeth. "What about yours?"

"That's pretty awesome!" Roxas said, genuinely surprised. She never would have guessed that Axel had spent so much time in Spain as a kid. "I've never been to Spain. I went to Italy in high school for a week, wasn't enough. But I agree, the people were amazing. Hmmmm, my favorite place . . . New York City. It's a lot of fun to explore, I could sightsee and run around forever and never see everything."

"New York's not bee privileged enough to have me as guest. As least not yet." He took a long sip from his coke, noticing it was almost empty. "Been wanting to go there for some time now; the opportunity's just never really popped up, I guess. Next question's mine." He grinned at her, the agitation long gone through the easy, pleasant conversation. "Music?"

Roxas whistled. "That is a loaded question, sir. I listen to almost everything but I really like Bad Religion, Outkast, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Styx. No Doubt was my favorite growing up, and they're still one of my favorites. I was the little punk rocking out to 'Just a Girl' like there was no tomorrow."

Axel nodded in approval, mouth curling at the corners at Roxas' little comment of being a little punk rocking out to good music. He could totally see it, Roxas' head banging back and forth, hair a short, ruffled pixie cut, her sweaty forehead and shabby, too large clothing. The imagination was pretty amusing, a little endearing. "I'm not really set in stone either, got a whole spectrum of music I like. Am pretty hooked on MSI, Nine Inch Nails and Nirvana..." Since Roxas was amazing so far, Axel saw no reason to keep it a secret. "And Disney OSTs are still as awesome as ever."

With a last sip his coke was empty, and Axel ordered a Rum and Coke; he figured he could allow himself to loosen up a little. If Roxas wasn't hesitant, wary or hung up on anything, he wasn't going to be, either. He'd remember the limits this time, though.

Roxas had to laugh at that; she figured that not too many women had been into Axel's admissions of Disney love, so now that he knew she was alright with it he felt more comfortable admitting it to her in the first place. And he ordered something with a bit of alcohol in it, so maybe now they were settling into something a bit more comfortable. "All good choices with music," Roxas agreed, nodding. "I know you said you had a bunch of tattoos, so here's my question: if you could pick any of them, which would be your favorite?"

"Uh." Axel sat there wide-eyed, stalling. How was he supposed to answer that? He guessed saying he loved every single one wasn't going to be very... specific, considering the question. It was hard trying to think back to every single tattoo he'd gotten and picking a single one out. However, it might just be...

He tasted of his Rum and Coke, was satisfied with it. "Though I dunno, really. Never thought much about it... have lots of tattoos so it's pretty damn hard to choose. If I had to... I'd take the one 'round my hip."

"Sorry," Roxas apologized. "I didn't mean to put you on the spot. I know a lot of people are very protective of theirs," she said. He didn't describe what the tattoo was, so she figured he went in that group; she'd have to wait and see if he got around to showing her at some point. "I'm in the same boat; I might not have as many tattoos as you, but I couldn't choose from them even if I wanted to."

"Weren't you speaking of three tattoos?" If he remembered correctly, Roxas indeed had three. "Are you the kind that gets tattoos 'cause they mean something or are you in it for the thrill?" He could very well imagine Roxas getting tattoos just for the sake of it; the pain, the exhilaration. She wanted to pierce /holes/ through people as profession. Axel's assumption shouldn't be too far off.

"A bit of both, honestly," Roxas said. "Though the first was, admittedly, for the adrenalin. I was sixteen and just wanted a tattoo. The other two are more recent and had a lot more thought behind them, but the detailing keeps me going back for touch-ups. All in all it's a pretty fun process. I'd like one or two more, but I'll mull over those for a bit before I put any needle to skin."

"So the next ones are those which you want to mean something?" He leant back in his seat, surveyed Roxas over the rim of his glass. "That's clever. Many of my tats are just for fun, but there're those that really mean something... Ya know, like stuff that really matters."

Roxas nodded, understanding the train of thought. "Yeah, I'd like them to mean something if I'm going to get any more. So a lot of yours are just for fun? Cool skin adornments and all?"

"More or less. Ya see, I was a kinda stupid kid. Did lots of stuff I'm shaking my head at now." A far-off look settled in Axel's eyes only to be broken by a sudden bark of laughter. "Well, turned out some real shit happened, and to cover some of it I got my first tattoo. Then my second. My third. My fourth. Started out as the kick - better than other shit I'd ever pulled - and body-modification became my new addiction. By the time my entire back was full with tats... I figured I was ready to get one that really _meant _something. Had set my mind upon getting my whole upper body tattooed, and I didn't want the next tattoos just to be some sort of fun thing. I grew up, and my tats grew with me. Does that make sense?"

Roxas stared at Axel for several moments, the alcohol weighing in her mind as he spoke and she considered asking him what exactly had happened when he was younger that constituted 'real shit' that he felt like he needed to cover with ink. In the end, she figured it wasn't her place to ask, not yet, anyway, and that if they got more comfortable with each other maybe she'd ask and he'd tell her more. "Yeah, that makes sense. I think that's how a lot of people are with their tattoos. Piercings, people go through stages too. Ears are usually first, then navels and noses - after that it's serious business, playing with holes in your skin in different places to get what you want."

"Gonna be honest." Silently he added, you'll probably hate me even more for this. "I was actually thinking piercings are for pussies. You know, that the real hard ones only get tattoos 'cause that stuff is way more hardcore than piercings are ever gonna be. Pain-wise." Then he grinned, tugged at his eyebrow piercing, turning it around its own axis. "Well, I was wrong. Tattoos are less pain-intense than piercings. The pain of getting a tattoo is a gradual, slow thing. You gotta have patience and endurance for it. Piercings, though... I think piercings are way more intense than tattoos are ever gonna be. When you pierced my ear - fuck, I wanted to _punch _you. But that thrill you get out of it, that spike of energy..." Axel licked his lips. "Really something else."

"Well I'm glad you didn't punch me, that would not have gotten you _anywhere _in my book," Roxas snorted. "That is where the two differ, the adrenaline rush from the piercing outweighs tattooing by a long shot. Glad you changed your mind though, because with my preference towards piercings I would have been afraid you were calling me a pussy. I'd also like to point out that piercings add a different level of eroticism that tattoos just don't," she said with a wink. Having someone lick one of her tattoos just didn't get the same reaction as when they licked or sucked on her piercings, she thought, and they were much more fun to play with.

"Oh, knowing you like this certainly doesn't make me think you're a pussy... On the contrary." Eyes fixed on Roxas, Axel allowed a smirk to grace his lips. "But I guess tattoos and piercings work on different levels. If I imagine having my nipples pierced..." A tongue licked over dry lips again, tracing the cupid's bow. Eyes darted down to his chest, fingers playing over the buttons of the shirt. "Wouldn't be opposed to that /at all/." A pause. "But I'm pretty much used to doing all of it myself, so rather than the sensation I enjoy the visual component. You know, when you have muscles shifting under skin, bunching up the inked skin so it moves like a snake? Yeah, that's more my thing. Enjoying beauty, creating it, /crafting/ it."

Roxas wondered if he'd have her be the one to pierce his nipples if he ever decided to do it. Payne had done hers when they dated briefly, she remembered vividly. They'd stung like a bitch and were tender for a few days afterwards, but once they healed they proved quite pleasurable. Just hearing him talk about it made her want to see what his expression would be when she pierced the tender, sensitive skin. And then, to top it all off, she had never been with someone who had so many tattoos, so while she couldn't directly relate to what he was saying she got the general idea. "I can get behind that," she said, thinking silently _and maybe I'll have you do a strip tease for me_. "I definitely like the idea of watching someone's muscles move beneath their skin."

"If that someone's sexy, then yes. Have seen some people getting tattooed I wouldn't wanna undress with a stick." Mentally shuddering, Axel grimaced. "Whether you're fat or thin doesn't really matter; what counts is your skin. It needs to be smooth. The best condition for tattoos is healthy, smooth skin and still better are muscles. If you frequently visit the solarium it won't work at all cause your skin gets all leathery and wrinkles fast. Been keeping myself healthy since my first tat, and I intend on keeping it that way. Lots of running and swimming." A smirk graced his mouth, drawing thin lips into something a little mirthful. "Even if you wouldn't peg me as that type, there are muscles to this skinny body."

"I'm sure," Roxas said, eyeing the form of his body critically. She could easily imagine the whip-tight muscles rippling just beneath his skin as he moved. Roxas remembered studying his forearms when she pierced him, the way the tendons and veins moved as he clenched his fists. She wanted to see them twist in her sheets.

If they continued hitting it off like they were, she'd see that soon, she figured.

With her drink gone, Roxas ordered a water to settle out the alcohol. "So what do you say we go out and get some fresh air in a bit?"

"Sounds good to me." Axel nodded, took up the glass and downed the rest of the drink. It was probably a mistake, judging by the way the liquid burnt down his throat. A kind of fuzziness settled over him, clouding his vision, head swimming lightly. Axel was no lightweight, could hold his liquor easily enough. But now he was feeling good, entirely at ease; he relaxed, let it surround him. Things with Roxas seemed to be looking up for him, and chatting with her was ridiculously easy. "Where'd you wanna go?"

"We can walk down along the river, if you want. They just finished the walkway, and the fresh air will be nice I think." They talked for a little bit more before leaving money for their drinks on the bar and heading out towards the river. The walkway alongside it had been built as a scenic outlook over the water, and was a very nice, relaxed walk people could take. Some people rode their bicycles during the day, while others used it as a running route, but at night it was much quieter and more peaceful - though less so when couples decided to use parts of it as tryst points. So far there had been none of those yet, though. "I'm glad I gave you a second chance, you know," she said after several minutes of comfortable silence.

The night air was pleasantly cool against his face, neither too chilly, nor too warm. Axel stretched his upper body as he walked leisurely by Roxas' side, his back popping satisfyingly. His gaze swept over the darkened spots of green spaces, water whipping gently to and fro like oily blackness. The silence surrounding them was unfamiliar territory, yet not unpleasant.

Axel froze at a little Roxas' sudden admission, eyes widening, heart rate speeding up. So far they hadn't really talked about it at all, which Axel was glad for. Things between them had settled slightly, he felt, and any approach to the matter caused Axel's stomach to contract in the most unpleasant ways possible. He forced himself to remain calm, staunchly ignored the frantic beating of his heart. "I'm glad, too," he said at last, as casually as possible. Other words had currently forsaken him.

Roxas didn't realize Axel had stopped at first, and kept walking for a minute. When she did realize he was a little further behind Roxas stopped and looked back curiously. He looked a bit like some invisible hand had smacked him, and like he was trying to figure out how to respond.

The admission had felt natural to her, like something that Axel deserved to hear on some level - but now she questioned saying anything to break their comfortable compatability. "Everything ok?"

The stupor lifting slightly, Axel continued staring at her. She appeared cautious now, a jumpy animal he'd so slowly managed to get closer to now returning to its initial state - wide-eyed, wary. Axel cursed himself through his racing mind, swallowed past the lump in his throat and moved his feet forward in steps a little too controlled.

"Everything's peachy," his mouth said for him. His head was imploding with ten thousand words, all of which he felt like bathing her in. This intimacy he felt with her, the easy-going banter and mutual acceptance - again, he found himself in a rut. How was he supposed to deal with that? All his relationships had been overtly of sexual nature and while he _did _get along with most of his partners - they wouldn't have been his partners if that hadn't been the case - he never before felt so drawn to a person like he was drawn to her. Never before felt like wanting someone's body and mind both, someone's laughter, secrets, softening eyes. He thought if he could feel her eyelashes grazing any part of his skin, he'd be far luckier than having her sexually.

It was something entirely new; exciting, frightening and wonderful all at once. Axel didn't know how to deal with it _at all_. Emotions weren't much his territory, and being thrown out of the loop by such a simple admission as Roxas' scared the hell out of him.

He figured, judging from her careful words and alert stance, that Roxas didn't really need to know about it. The level of familiarity they'd built up was pleasant and more than Axel could ask for, so he'd play it safe. Not scare her away. He wanted her to open up to him, not to return to that angry, hostile state.

"Everything's peachy," he repeated, felt safer after his decision. He resumed walking, bumped her shoulder slightly with his to get her moving again and shot her a very convincing smile. "'S just fine, sorry. I'm just kinda amazed that you give a shitty guy like me a second chance. You don't seem the type for it."

Roxas shoved him back playfully with her shoulder in return, matching his pace as he started walking again. She laughed though, thinking about how she definitely wasn't the type to give douches a second chance - but Axel wasn't a douchebag. He was kind of an idiot, but an endearing one who kept up with her banter and set butterflies alight in her stomach. Maybe there was something to this, after all.

"I'm not," she assured him, still laughing. "If I thought you were a shitty guy, you can bet I wouldn't be here talking with you. But I don't think you're a shitty guy. We both kind of screwed up last time, and though I was mad at you, I could have deflated the whole thing two months ago by just telling you I was a chick. And, you know, I kind of figured liking you was a good enough reason to go for it," she said, pushing his shoulder again for kicks.

Usually she wasn't even so open about liking someone, but she wanted to hope that this would work out somehow. Maybe she'd get lucky this time.

TBC


	6. Chapter 6

**Title: **Domino

**Pairing: **Axel/f!Roxas

**Warnings: **genderswap, piercings and blood, language, epic snark, Axel being a dick, sex, slightly kinky sex

**Rating: **R/NC-17

**Beta**: alovelysilence

**A/N: **written with the lovely Pia/rotersternxx/letsfuckitupboys. Started out as a roleplay, and as we approached 100,000 words we figured why the hell not post it.

**Disclaimer: **We don't own Kingdom Hearts (or else KH3 would have been out by now), but we do get a kick out of writing for the fandom.

**Summary: **This is the story of a boy and a girl, who by all rights would never have met if the boy hadn't had a spontaneous desire to get a piercing at stupid o'clock on a Saturday morning. This is a story about falling in love and the mistakes that we make during the fall – about the boy you drenched in beer and the girl you never saw coming.

**Chapter Summary:** The end of the date.

6

Right now there wasn't so much anxiety as excitement flooding his stomach, though the butterflies started to resemble killer bees more and more, gnawing away at his guts. Axel was determined not to come over as some sort of moron at her last words, so he let the goofy smile quickly transform into a smirk. He could feel himself ease up again, and he was infinitely glad for his slightly over-inflated ego giving him so much reassurance.

"And now that we're here, I'm gonna give you many more reasons to keep going for it," he said, leaning forward a bit, peering directly into her face. "Though I'm no avid fan of abuse, lady, so watch where those hands of yours are going. It's enough I let you put holes through me, and you're even getting paid for that."

Roxas held her hands up to proclaim her innocence. "I promise, no physical pain unless you're paying me or you beg for it," she quipped, smirking at him to deflate the seriousness she might have sensed springing up between them. The look in his eyes sent the butterflies into a frenzy, drying her mouth out with a bit of anxiety. Licking her lips, Roxas countered with "Though, more reasons? Do tell, now you have me curious."

"Gladly. I will recite all of my innumerable assets, but I think I don't need to say that much at all. I seem to have convinced you well enough already." Axel drew himself upright, schooled his expression into something haughty, self-assured, affecting the voice of a salesman. "Well, milady, there is the obvious advantage of my _astounding _physique I can proffer you. This well-built body is adorned with many tattoos, and its fitness involves an incredible stamina that can surely please you... in certain fields." A salacious, unrepentant grin slipped through his attempt of selling himself the most efficient way possible. "Furthermore there is an eloquence you may use however you want to; inside and outside of those certain fields. This mouth has been told to be a very naughty, a skilled kisser that caused quite a few weak knees. Charm, culinary skills, humor, openness, spirit of adventure, determinedness, creativity... There cannot possibly be anything you miss?"

"No, you seem to be the whole package," Roxas mused, looking him up and down again. The whole package, indeed: wit, charm, humor, assertiveness, confidence, a gorgeous, fit body, handsome, _and_ stamina? Roxas might have thought such a person didn't exist, but being in Axel's company made her think twice.

"However, I can't take everything you say as truth just because you tell me about it," she reminded him. "You're going to have to back up those words sometime in the future, you know." She was reminded immediately of that disastrous first date a month before, when she challenged him to do the exact same thing - obviously with less favorable results as he thought she was a guy. "Otherwise I'd be afraid you were falsely advertising yourself", she said with a smirk. The bantering between them was setting her heart at a faster pace and made her want to pull him against her just to feel his body pressed close, but Roxas held herself back.

Getting checked out so openly made the confidence in Axel rise greatly. That Roxas had been interested since the very beginning had been almost painfully obvious. That Roxas was still this evidently interested in him caused something to stab white-hot pleasure into Axel's chest, making his breath hitch slightly. The unbearable urge to feel her against him in some way overwhelmed him at last, and Axel put his arm around her shoulders, drawing her closer to his body so she could unmistakably feel his body warmth. Leaning down, her short curly hair tickled his nose. It made him smile as he spoke in a low, teasing tone. "You don't need to worry. Oh, you don't need to worry about that _at all_... If you let me rectify my last mistake, I will most certainly back my advertising up."

"I think that opportunity comes with the second chance," Roxas smiled knowingly, shifting her shoulders under his arm. With his side pressed right up against hers, Roxas couldn't help but feel how warm his body was - or how she could vaguely feel the muscles shift under his clothing as they moved in sync now, walking together along the river. His breath ruffled her hair softly, disturbing the curls there; Roxas responded by slipping her own arm around Axel's waist, curling her fingers loosely in the pocket of his jacket. "You'll have a couple of chances to rectify the last mistake, I promise you that - the first one will be when we get back to my apartment building, how does that sound?"

"Good," he murmured into her ear, breath ghosting damply, hotly along the shell of it. "You won't regret it." He paused a moment, then pressed his lips in a brief kiss against her temple. Before he could get too sappy, he pulled back entirely. Focusing a moment on her walk, he slowed down a little, long legs moving too quickly for hers. At last they were walking side by side slowly, and Axel's skin distinctly tingled under the heavy jacket and thin shirt. The idea of her fingertips against his bare skin made him close his eyes, throat convulsing. There was the force of emotions intensifying the lust tenfold or even more; Axel couldn't really tell. He didn't mind the silence so much this time, was completely relaxed for once. After a while, he spoke teasingly. "Though showing guys your home after just one date is a little risky, isn't it? I could be a sick fuck, some mass murderer climbing into people's windows at night to throttle them."

Roxas snickered. "That's why I screen anyone with a date before even thinking about bringing them back to my apartment. There's pretty damn good security too, someone has to buzz you into the building for you to get in," she winked. "And I don't worry too much about the windows, it's too high up for that. But let's just go along with you _not_ being a deranged maniac, sound good? I'd really like to give you the chance to redeem yourself and back all your claims up, you know?" she asked cheekily. The walkway curved back up towards the street, and Roxas started to guide them in the direction of her apartment building.

"I wouldn't be quite so sure about me not being a deranged freak," Axel said, grinning. "I've got quite some ticks you'll probably hold me crazy for. Not that I could blame you for that... Also, I'll have you know that top models are jealous of my legs; I'm pretty tall, and no wall is high enough to keep me from you." He laughed at himself for the cheesy joke, hesitated a few moments before ultimately touching his fingers to hers in the pocket of his jacket, intertwining them. "I'm looking forward to this kind of redemption, I think. You appear pretty eager for it too..."

"I am curious as to how you plan to redeem yourself," Roxas smirked. "It might take a little bit before I decide you've truly reached redemption - it all depends on how you handle it," she teased. Roxas was indeed eager to see how this would play out; she'd kissed him the last time in a fit of boldness, but he'd been too shocked to respond. This time he was fully aware and probably plotting things out in that crazy head of his. "My apartment building is this way," she said, leading him up a street on the right as the butterflies fluttered madly in her stomach.

"Weren't you the one agreeing to a whole night, last time? If you still have doubts after my extensive list of assets... I'm not scared to add a few other nights if you'll really give me a chance." He was laying it on thick, he knew - but it was nothing he couldn't back up. Maybe he wasn't the smartest guy Roxas could have gotten herself, but there were other advantages he wasn't afraid to show off. "Anything to please the lady."

Axel glanced around his surroundings, tried to memorize the way. He couldn't see much, though. It had gotten late throughout their long chatting in the bar, and all the houses were only dimly illuminated by the street lights that cast the whole street into shadows. He hadn't ever really been in that area before but it seemed to be safe, not haunted by gangs or drunkards. Still the hour was late, the street was deserted, and sick people were almost everywhere. The thought made his arm around her tighten.

Roxas was quite pleased when he pulled her closer, but decided to tease him anyway. "Easy there, tiger," she said lightly, her smirk broadening. That was quite endearing; he was obviously on the lookout for weirdos and creeps. Luckily for her, it was a well-patrolled area so she rarely met up with people that required a punch to the face.

They arrived at her apartment building, and Roxas unlocked the door, letting them in. She waved to the security guard in the lobby, and went over to the elevator. Pressing her floor number, she turned back to Axel with a sly grin on her face. He looked like he was hovering between nervousness and excitement, and the hooded gaze he trained on her was intense. Roxas held off though, waiting until the elevator stopped and bringing Axel down the hall to her door. She leaned back against it, giving him a hooded look all her own and beckoning him closer with one finger.

He didn't need to be beckoned at all, stepped forward immediately. Immediately and slowly, eyes gleaming predatorily, stuck on the sultry expression of her face, lips parted, eyes lidded. Not allowing their bodies to touch - not yet - he kept a teasing distance between them. Leaning forward with his upper body, he slid up his left arm to support himself on his elbow against the door, directly beside her face. He uncurled his fist, reached out to trail fingertips up her bare arm, eyes greedily taking in the wave of goosebumps shuddering over her skin. Reaching the fabric of her shirt, he cupped her shoulder with his palm and squeezed.

"You're really quite something else," he murmured lowly. The silence between them was heavy with their breathing, and he slowly slid his hand to her neck, up her throat, and swallowed his pleasure at the visual beauty of her alabaster skin, at the feeling of his calloused hands grazing her smoothness. He let his thumb dig into the soft flesh under her chin, exerting gentle pressure to tilt her face up to his. The closeness made his stomach churn with anticipation, and he just stared with blown pupils into her shockingly blue eyes, entranced. The anticipation in his stomach roared up and he brought her head forcefully closer to his, pressed his lips to hers in a harsh kiss.

Now _this_ was the kiss she'd been hoping for a month ago, before everything just came crashing down. His touch electrified her skin as he smoothed his hand up the column of her neck and tilted her chin up. When Roxas felt his lips against hers she arched into his touch and towards his body, sliding her hands up to his shoulders to pull him closer. Axel moved fluidly, surging towards her until Roxas' back was pressed against her door, pinned there by his body. His tongue tried to breach her lips first, but a quick nip to the flesh gave her control of the kiss when he opened his mouth in surprise, and Roxas slipped her tongue into his mouth. Her hands tangled in Axel's wild vermillion hair close to his scalp, controlling the kiss and pulling him back slightly when she wanted, his lower lip tugged between her teeth. When she released that bit of teased flesh, she licked her lips. "Now _that _is more like it," she breathed, grinning like a cat who'd gotten into the cream. A breath later, his lips were on hers again, kissing her just as fiercely as before; somewhere deep in Roxas' mind she was incredibly disappointed in her decision to hold off and make him work his way towards an overnight.

As soon as he felt her hands on him, the familiar burning came back with God's revenge, shocking the breath right out of him. She burnt him everywhere she touched - shoulders, temples, scalp - and her aggressive reciprocation surprised him, though he should've expected it. His mind flew back to the last time they'd met, and his leg burnt with the phantom ache of the remembered touch of her palm. Tilting his head, he tried to deepen it, was stopped by a fierce nip to his lip. A gasp later and she was in control, unleashed the storm she was, kissing him with the force of a natural disaster he was powerless to. It was something new, being controlled, and set a small spark inside his belly on fire. He didn't register the words she said, needed her lips against his again. Growling low in his throat, he slid his hand to the back of her head, gripped her short hair and tugged _hard_. The gasp was hers now as her head fell back against the door, and he used the moment of surprise to his advantage. He forced himself between her legs, melded his hard front against her softer one so no inch of space was left free; his free hand found her hard hipbone before slipping down to her ass, squeezing. He bit hard into her lower lip, tugged, then licked over it as if in apology.

Roxas hissed against his mouth, feeling him move between her legs and fuck all if she couldn't feel the heat start to pool between her legs as he pressed himself against her. He was almost half-hard in his jeans, a thoroughly enticing sensation that really and truly made her think about just unlocking her door and letting him in now, if only just to help take care of his developing arousal. The fight for dominance and control was equally stimulating; Roxas had never had a partner who _fought_ with her for it so enthusiastically - usually they just overpowered her or immediately submitted because she was a girl and they didn't want to fight back. Axel wasn't afraid of that, apparently, and he made that very clear. He was going to be just as aggressive as she was.

Roxas had to stop before they got too far. She didn't want to, hell no, not with this gorgeous man pressing her back against her own door and tonguing at her mouth - but she promised herself she wasn't going to bring him back to fuck. So, fighting all her instincts and desires, Roxas tugged hard on Axel's hair, pulling him back. "I'm sorry," she said roughly. "You know I can't bring you in tonight."

He growled at his stinging scalp as he was pulled back. It was impossible to resist her, and he wanted to forsake all plans about inviting her to a self-prepared dinner and all other plans he'd half-formed in his mind. The heady haze was too strong, his pants were getting tighter. If she was just another fuck he'd give in to his desires, clutch her hair and make her head bang against the door, hoist her up with his free arm - she was short and light, after all - and have her legs wrap around his waist while he single-handedly unzipped both their pants, biting her lips raw while he fucked her hoarse. But because she wasn't just a mindless fuck but more, he only breathed heavily through his nostrils while calming himself down, trying to uncramp his hold on her hair. She was more and this was why there'd be dinner, a bed, kisses. She was more, her grip on his hair was more, so aggressive and determined, that he couldn't help but abide with her wishes, and ultimately his own too. "'S fine," he muttered, letting his eyes droop. He nuzzled at her neck and licked at a vein in her throat where he could feel her rapid heartbeat.

Roxas let her fingers relax in his hair and comb through it soothingly as he licked at her neck. She breathed deeply, trying to calm herself down enough to speak properly and maybe even intelligently. He held himself back valiantly - she could feel it in his body, the tension and his arousal, like he was ready to have her right there in the hallway but he stopped and pulled back, cowed by her words. Roxas smoothed her hands down his shoulders and arms, trying to calm the tension from his muscles before he left. "Soon," she promised. And Roxas would hold herself to that, because _damn_ she wanted him in her bed - or anywhere, really - badly.

There was a tiny spark of rebellion at the word 'soon,' and Axel felt the lust sitting heavily in his belly, effectively cutting off any sober thoughts he might've had. What shot through his head now was the fact that it was harder to see whether girls were horny, not as obvious as guys and their boners. While he agreed to next time, thought it the best option really, he wouldn't leave without knowing she'd been enjoying this as much as he was. Sneaking his hand between her legs, he laid his palm against her heat, exerting gentle pressure. Leaning up, his tongue licked a wet, hot trail up her neck to the shell of her ear. "Next time I'm gonna have you," he whispered harshly, slid up his thumb to the place where he knew the little nub was, and rubbed. Rubbed and rubbed and rubbed with firmer pressure now, stimulating her centre of pleasure as he bit at her lobe. "Gonna have you and lick you so thoroughly you'll scratch my back bloody."

Roxas arched against him, gripping his biceps with strong hands to anchor herself as he rubbed her through the denim of her jeans. "Fuck," she breathed, hissing and rocking down slightly against his palm. "I look forward to it," she whispered back, gently guiding his wrist away. Nipping at his jaw, she pushed him away reluctantly and smiled. "Next time, Axel."

Axel hung onto every word she said, every breath she so heavily exhaled. Her cheeks had a rosy flush to them, and her lips were shiny with spit, slightly parted, forming an 'O.' Swallowing hard, he took a step back and let his eyes drag over her boyish frame - almost angular, only a teasing hint of curves along her hips, shirt very slightly bunched from her small breasts. The first time consciously looking at her as a girl, and Axel was mesmerized, noticed all the little things that stood out tenfold as when he'd thought she was a boy; her beautifully shaped lips, her smooth, clean skin, and those hands... Something other than blatant lust shot through him, something warm and wonderful heating up his cheeks. His fingers twitched with the desire to just touch her - a desire entirely unlike lust - and he couldn't resist. Taking a miniscule step forward, he trailed his fingers over her cheek, the pads burning with the contact. He'd never known he was capable of so much tenderness, but his lips barely touched the skin of her face, just grazing softly along it, remaining there for a moment just to touch her. Lowly he spoke, "My place next time? I'd like to cook for you."

Roxas was startled a bit by his sudden change in demeanour, the aggression and lust absent in the light touch of his fingers and lips against her cheek and replaced with something more tender and delightful. "That sounds great," she said, grinning broadly. How many guys had said that to her? Roxas couldn't think of a single one; it wasn't something a lot of guys did for dates, anyway. "Stop by the shop and let me know where to go and when, and you've got yourself a date," she whispered in return, planting a kiss of her own against his cheek. He left a few minutes later, his gaze still lingering and smoldering - and really, Roxas thought to herself, if she hadn't made that damn promise to herself she would have pulled him inside and kept him the whole night. She felt altogether too warm and aroused from his aggressive kisses and firm hands rubbing at her, and if he'd stayed she knew she would have been more than satisfied and sated. As it was though, Roxas stripped down to her bare skin in her bedroom and grabbed some of her favorite supplies, then laid down on her back and spread her legs. She fucked herself to orgasm again and again that night, pressing her favorite dildo inside and imagining it was Axel fucking her - good enough for tonight and until she had him beneath her, but still not quite enough.

As Axel went home that night, he was determined to take a cold shower. He felt a little hypocritical, jerking off to Roxas; just a few weeks before he'd almost punched her in the face for kissing him, thinking her a boy. He was almost unbearably horny, pants tight between his legs throughout the walk home. It was difficult, though, stepping into the shower, to stop the incessant wave of thoughts of her. He saw her clouded, lidded eyes when he shut his own, her parted lips, flushed cheeks. The cold water on his legs did nothing to deter the lust; it still shot through his belly almost with revenge, and when he stroked himself frantically with a tight fist, he saw no body - boy and girl mingled in his mind - only a plush mouth parted, panting heavily, strong hands tearing at his hair, and the wonderfully soft flesh of a neck he could sink his teeth into. The orgasm hit him soon after on buckling legs. Supporting himself with shaking hands against the tiles, he squeezed his eyes shut and hissed at the tingling pleasure along his groin. He kept seeing her face the entire time and a genderless, beautiful body with soft skin. By the time he realized his legs were freezing cold with the cold water running along them, he had another boner to deal with. This one, though, he'd take care of in bed.


End file.
